IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  U580 

(716)  872-4503 


A 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notea/Notas  tachniquaa  at  bibliographiquaa 


Tha  Inatltuta  has  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  beat 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographlcaliy  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


0 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


r~y|   Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagAe 


n   Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^  et/ou  pelllculAe 

□   Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  n'sanqua 


I      I   Coloured  maps/ 


D 


□ 
0 


D 


Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  init  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  blacic)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (I.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


I      I   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  an  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avac  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  Interior  margin/ 

La  failure  serrAe  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certalnes  pages  blanches  ajoutias 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  la  texte. 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pes  AtA  filmies. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentalres  supplAmentairas: 


L'institut  a  microfilm*  le  melileur  exemplaire 
qu'll  iui  a  M  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
da  cat  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographicua,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  Image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dana  la  mAthoda  normale  de  fiimaga 
sont  Indiqute  cl-dessous. 


T 
t( 


I     I   Coloured  peges/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagtes 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaur6es  et/ou  pelliculAes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxet 
Pages  dicoiortes,  tachaties  ou  piqutos 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  dAtachtes 

Showthroughy 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prin 

Qualiti  InAgaia  de  I'lmpression 

Includes  supplementary  matarli 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppiimentaire 

Only  edition  evailabia/ 
Seule  Edition  disponibia 


|~~|  Pages  damaged/ 

I      I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

I — I  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

r~>K  Showthrough/ 

r~^  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I     I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I — I  Only  edition  evailabia/ 


T 

P 
o 
fi 


G 
b 
tl 

si 
o 
fi 

si 

o 


T 
si 

T 

A/ 

dJ 

ei 
b 
ri 
r( 
n 


D 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc..  have  been  ref limed  to 
enaura  tha  best  possible  Image/ 
Les  pages  toteiement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feulllet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  At  A  fllmAes  A  nouveau  de  fapon  A 
obtenir  la  melllaure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  cl-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

»x 

E 

' 

12X 

16X 

20X 

a«x 

28X 

32X 

Th«  copy  filmad  h«r«  has  b—n  r«produc«d  thanks 
to  tha  ganarotity  of: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


L'axamplaira  film*  fut  raproduit  grAca  A  la 
ginirosit*  da: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Itaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacifications. 


Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  At*  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  l'axamplaira  film*,  at  mn 
conformit*  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illustratad  imprassion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END  "), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplairas  originaux  dont  la  couvarture  an 
papier  est  imprim*e  sont  film*s  en  commengant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  an  terminant  soit  par  la 
derni*re  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autras  exemplairas 
originaux  sont  film*s  an  commandant  par  la 
prami*re  paga  qui  comporta  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  en  terminant  par 
la  darni*re  paga  qui  comporta  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derni*re  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN  ". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  *tre 
film*s  *  des  taux  de  r*duction  diff*rent8. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  *tre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich*,  il  est  film*  *  partir 
de  Tangle  8up*rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  *  droite, 
et  de  haut  an  bas,  en  prenant  la  nombre 
d'images  n*ce8saire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrant  la  m*thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

"i^C. 


,  dr-^^^ 


Sj^NALYSIS  OF  THE  EtEMEJ^TS 

WHICH  ooir«TTTin-.,  nM,r,onrMM.t,  th> 

wwBfi  0?  pM  AND  m  mm  mm. 

KftSULT,  AND  CONSEQUENCES 

pumm  mmmmm  mmm. 

BHITISH  ^RGi^  »,  ^j,j,j^^ 

miCTDRIS  ON  THE  ISEBlTONTagATT. 

The  i^^eto  ^^  Of  P««i»le  E«e.»encr 

fM*'  r  rtTSr^^^'^- 
iHE.CAUSE  OP  War. 

Comment.  <«  the  Pterident's  Message,  > 
THE  WH:*LE  of  the  OREGON 

ETC.^ETC,  ETC.  * 

BTf  AN  ADOPTED^mZEW. 


NEW  YORK ; 

rMRDAtr— J848. 
J. 


yWlftr 


•r.  Wl.^  fWKrt,,  <»n„,  ^  ^^^ 


>;^'v-j^?^^':^fc^ 


«■»  IUM4U  (ttEETt. 


-.f^:^. 


.«! 


■••v:::;^-^^ 


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\  .•     •<    ,1 


WILL  THERE  BE  WAE? 


ANALYSIS    OF    THE   ELEMENTS 

WHICH    CONSTITUTE,    RESPECTIVELY,    THE 

Power  of  England  and  tbe  United  States. 


RESULT,     AND     CONSEQUENCES 

or    AN 

OBSTINATE  WAR  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  COUNTRIES. 

CURSORY     REMARKS 

ON   THE 

Tone  and  Tactics  of  the  British  Organs  in  America. 

STRICTURES  ON  THE  ASHBURTON  TREATY.      , 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  POSSIBLE  EMERGENCY,  THAT  WOULD,  INEVITABLY,  BE 

THE    CAUSE    OF    WAR. 

COMMENTS  ON  THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE, 

'■    :        ■  ,    ..-     . .t  -  ..    .  ; 

^  THE  PROPER  COURSE  TO  SECURE,  PEACEABLY,  - 

THE    WHOLE    OF   THE    OREGON, 

*  '         "'  ETC.,  ETC.,  ETC. 


BY  AN  ADOPTED  CITIZEN. 

"^  '      :         ,     «  •  NEW  YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  WILLIAM  TAYLOR,  NO.  2  ASTOR  HOUSE.      PRJCE,  25  CENTt. 


FEJAUAR7 1846. 


JAM 


2»H>'  \ 


: .   "..""■."    SUMMARY. ""'  ,';'!...:'  :' 

Introduction 7  to    8 

Tone  and  Tactics  of  the  British  Organs  in  America,  and  of 

the  Whig  Presses  in  the  Atlantic  cities,  on  the  subject  of   ^  ;, 

War  and  Oregon,  agreeing  on  this  point,  that  England  is 

clearly  right,  and  the  President  wilfully  wrong 9  to  10 

The  British  Organs  backed  by  the  Whig  leaders  will  not  sue-       : 
ceed  in  misleading  public  opinion ...  9 

Republican  America  stands  no  chance  for  a  fair  arbitrament      , 

in  Europe d 

False  predictions  of  the  organs  of  British  interests,  and  of  ihe    •; . 

Whig  presses •  < »     ,  10 

The  course  of  the  President  on  the  subject  of  our  foreign  re-       . 
lations  will  be  sustained  by  the  people 10 

Will  there  be  War? '. 10  to  38 

The  contexture  of  our  Institutions  is  pre-eminently  opposed 

to  aggressive  War :  ,,    11 

Analysis   of  the  elements    which    constitute   the  power  of 
England 11  to  14 

Analysis  of  the  principles  which  give  impulse  to  the  Govern- 
mental strength  of  Great  Britain 13  to  14 

Elaborate  examination  of  the  injury  that  England  might  in- 
flict to  the  United  States 15  to  17 

Analysis  of  the  elements  which  constitute  the  power  of  the 

United  States 15  to  17 

Analysis  of  the   principles  which    impart  strength  to  the 

American  Confederacy 17  to  IS 

Result,  and  consequences  of  a  protracted  War  between  En-     ..,.,5;  , 
gland  and  the  United  States 18 

.Disquisition  on  the  Ashburton  Treaty 19  to  22 

Formidable  organization  and  threatening  attitude   of  Great 
Britain  in  North  America,  since  the  Treaty 19  to  20 

Reasons,  accounting  for  the  silence  of  the  American  press  on 
the  disgraceful  cession  of  a  passage  through  the  State  of         ■  ^- * 
Maine 21  to  22 

How  Great  Britain,  by  sending  over  a  proper  man,  obtained 
the  passage  she  had  been  so  long  coveting.  (See  note  |.) . .     21  to  22 


199246 


SumiiKtrif. 

PACKS. 

ii^xplnnalionof  the  circumstances  which  enabled  the  American 
ncguciator  to  buy  the  consent  of  Maine 23  to  24 

Strictures  on  the  course  of  the  Senate  in  ratifying  the  Ash- 
burton  treaty 23  to  24 

Mr.  Calhoun  and  some  southern  senators  voted  for  the  treaty 
through  sectional  feeling 25 

The  passage  in  Congress  of  the  Oregon  resolutions  will  not 

produce  War ''        99 

Development  of  an  emergency  which  would  be  the  cause  of 

hostilities  within  two  or  three  years 25  to  26 

EH'ect   of  the  Presit'ent's  Message  in  the  United  States, — it 

has  silenced  for  a  while  the  opponents  of  the  Administration     26  to  27 

Investigation  of  its  probable  effect  in  Europe 27  to  35 

The  rebuke  of  the  President  to  the  French  Government  will 
increase  in  our  favour  the  sympathies  of  the  French  p  ^ple    27  to  30 

Remarks  of  the  Organ  of  M.  Guizot  in  this  city,  who 
threatens  the  President  with  "  vigourous  reprisals,"  from 
his  patron 28 

Foul  abuse  from  M.  Guizot's  organ  on  Gen.  Cass,  for  having 
approved  of  the  President's  rebuke,  &c 28 

Various  comments  on  the  tone  of  the  French  papers  under  the 

controul  of  Louis  Philippe  and  of  his  ministers 28  to  30 

The  threats  of  the  British  Aristocracy  on  the  subject  of 
Oregon  in  Apri!.  1845,  were  a  mere  theatrical  demonstration 
to  insulate  the  president :  true  causes  which  prompted 
tliose  threats 30  to  32 

Quotations  from  the  '  London  Standard,'  giving  an  insight  into 
the  consistency,  &c.,  of  the  British  Aristocracy 32  to  33 

Good  joke  told  by  Lord  Ashburton  concerning  the  proper  man 

to  settle  the  north-eastern  boundary.  (Note  *) 33 

Quotations  from  the  President's  message  having  reference  to 

'  Oregon,  international  law,  and  foreign  interference  on  this 
continent 33  to  34 

The  message  takes  officially  the  same  ground  that  had  been 

taken  in  the  Inaugural,  by  expressing  then — an  opinion.. . .  34 

The  message,  although  the  most  offensive  to  the  views  of 
British  statesmen  that  has  been  issued,  will  have  a  peaceful 
tendency  in  England ;  the  reasons  why 34  to  33 

The  threats  of  the  British  Aristocracy  will  be  hushed,  and 
will  give  way,  for  the  present,  to  procrastination,  bribery, 
and  intrigues  of  all  kinds 30 

The  opponents  of  the  President  are  covertly  at  work 35 


ftJ^RSEX 


Siimmari/. 


I'AUK*. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  under  cover  of  defending  the  course  of  the  Pre- 
sident, takes  strong  ground  in  opposing  his  most  impor- 
tant measures 36 

Conclusions  on  the  question  "  Will  there  be  War  r" 38 

The  proper  course  to  secure,  peaceably,  the  whole  of  Oregon    38  to  40 

Synopsis  of  four  decisive,  but  conciliatory  measures,  which 

will  give  us,  in  time,  the  whole  of  Oregon 38  to  3y 

What  is  not  proper  for  the  President  to  propose,  can  effectually 

be  done  by  a  two-thirds'  majority  in  Congress 39 

The  offer  for  compromise  made  by  the  President  last  summer 

was  eminently  judicious     40 

No  compromise  can  be  made  as  to  our  riijht  for  the  exclusive 

navigation  of  the  Columbia  river 40 

It  can  be  allowed  to  merchant  vessels  in  pursuance  of  free 

trade  principles 40 

Resignation  of  the  Peel  Ministry,  &c 40  to  43 

Illustration  of  the  devices  used  by  the   British   Aristocracy 

whenever  a  change  of  measures  becomes  necessary 41  to  42 

Classification  of  a  majority  of  the  American  press  in  the  At- 
lantic cities 42  to  43 

Queries  submitted  to  their  consideration 43 

Divergeni'.e  of  opinions  and  erratic  views  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  deprecated  43 

Hope  entertained  that  a  majority  of  Senators  of  both  parties 
will  set  aside  sectional  views  and  party  spirit,  when  voting, 
finally,  on  the  Oregon  resolutions 44 

Synopsis  of  the  consequences  that  would  ensue  if  the  Oregon 
measures  recommended  by  the  President  were  to  be  de- 
feated in  the  Senate 44 

Unanimity  in  our  conncils,  the  most  potent  weapon  wielded  by 
Congress ....,,.,,  44 


*   « 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  ihe  fall  of  the  year  1843,  I  went  over  to  Europe  witli  my  fumily, 
for  the  purpose  of  travelling,  particularly  in  France,  which  is  my  native 
country.  Wiiile  in  Paris,  where  I  resiiled  nearly  twelve  months,  I  was 
grieved  to  see  that  the  tone  of  the  Fronc^-  pre.ss  had  hecome  altogether 
unfriendly  to  this  country,  and  I  noticc^d  iiat  the  daily  abuse  lavished  by 
the  English  press  on  the  people,  and  on  the  institutions  of  the  United 
States,  was  promptly  echoed  by  *l.c  Parisian' papers.  The  organ  of  thu 
French  Government,  the  Journal,  des  i>»t,"/i,  was  particularly  remark- 
able for  its  systematic,  insidious,  mcliguaiit,  and  persevering  efforts  to 
traduce  and  villify  the  American  character ;  and  in  December,  1844,  the 
virulence  of  the  ministerial  paper  became  so  outrageous,  that  I  madr  jp 
my  mind  to  expose  publicly,  in  a  daily  paper,  the  utter  falsity  of  its 
calumnious  aspersions.  I  found,  that  it  was  not  an  easy  inulter  to  get 
my  articles  inserted,  in  extenso,  in  the  daily  journals,  some  of  them,  such 
as  the  Siecle,  the  Commerce,  and  the  Conatitutionel,  gave  only  the  spirit 
of  my  manuscripts ;  the  National  inserted  one  or  two  articles :  but  it 
was  only  in  La  Reforme  that  my  views  on  American  afluirs  appeared 
without  mutilation  ;  they  formed  a  connected  series  of  articles  pub- 
lished over  the  signature  of  "  Un  Citoyen  des  Elata  Unis ;"  and,  in  course 
of  time,  they  were  republished  in  two  pamphlets ;  and  although  my 
arguments  did  not  prevent  the  French  Government  from  interfering  in  the 
affair  of  Texas,  it  exposed,  publicly,  intrigues  which  had  been  kept 
in  the  dark,  and  a  change  in  the  tone  of  the  Parisian  press,  except  in  the 
organs  of  the  French  Government,  became,  at  that  time,  easily  percept- 
ible :  that  change  was  entirely  in  favour  of  the  United  States. 

On  my  return  to  my  adopted  country,  I  found  that  considerable  ex- 
citement existed  as  to  the  uncertainty  of  our  relations  with  England  ;  it 
appeared  to  me,  that  the  press  was  generally  at  fault  as  to  the  proper 
course  to  follow,  in  order,  on  the  one  hand,  to  secure  peace,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  on  the  other,  to  sustain  and  vindicate  with  becoming  spirit 
our  national  rights.  I  felt  convinced  that  such  a  course  could  be  pointed 
out ;  and,  moreover,  that  the  propriety  and  efficiency  thereof  could  be  sup- 
ported by  uncontrovertible  facts  and  arguments.  The  task,  at  the  pre- 
sent time,  was  personally  inconvenient ;  I  have,  however,  undertaken  to 
do  it  in  the  following  pages: — the  hesitation  and  the  conflicting  views 
which  appear  to  prevail  in  Congress  on  the  subject  of  our  foreign  rela- 
tions, have  led  me  into  the  belief,  that  the  measures  which  I  propose, 
under  a  firm  conviction  of  their  efficacy,  may  not  be  untimoly. 


Introduction. 


The  first  article  of  this  pamphlot,  headed  "  War  and  Oregon,"  was 
published  in  the  Daily  Globe  of  the  loth  of  November  ;*  it  is  a  brief 
exposition  of  the  whole  subject.  Eight  other  articles  appeared  success- 
ively in  the  same  paper,  and  in  reading  thcni  the  reader  ought  to  bear 
in  mind  the  date  of  the  publication,  as  it  shows  strikingly  the  general 
inconsistency  of  the  press,  at  the  same  time  that  it  tests  the  correctness 
of  the  views  expressed  in  said  articles.  To  illustrate  my  meaning,  I  will 
merely  point  out  one  instance  relative  to  the  inconsistency  of  the  press. 
As  early  as  the  beginning  of  N*"  /ember,  the  influential  papers  of  this  city 
were  nearly  unanimous  in  daily  abusing  the  President  on  account  of  his 
stand  on  the  subject  of  Oregon.  The  burst  of  popular  approbation  which 
greeted  the  Message  of  Mr.  Polk,  bore  too  strongly  the  stamp  of  public 
opinion  to  be  misunderstood,  and  the  editors  of  those  papers  shifted  their 
ground  at  once  ;  many  of  them  even  went  so  far  as  to  express  themselves 
satisfied  with  confiding  the  care  of  our  foreign  relations  to  the  prudence 
of  an  Executive,  whom,  only  a  few  days  previously,  they  were  villifying 
at  a  great  rate.  By  degrees,  however,  they  have  broke  ground  on 
another  course  ;  they  do  not  abuse  the  administration — they  rather 
flatter  it ;  but  they  are  covertly  at  work,  and  try  what  they  can  to  defeat 
the  measures  recommended  by  the  President,  by  urging  delay,  &c.  Well, 
the  series  of  articles  contained  in  this  pamphlet  takes  a  space  of  time 
of  about  two  months,  and  forms  a  kind  of  political  record  of  ike  events 
which  have  occurred  within  that  period :  and,  as  I  stated  at  the  outset,  it 
will  be  well  to  bear  in  mi'.d  the  date  of  each  article  at  the  time  it  is  read. 

In  conclusion,  I  call  the  attention  of  the  reader,  in  a  special  manner, 
to  that  part  of  the  pamphlet  which  contains  the  "  Analysis  of  the  Ele- 
ments which  constitute  the  power  of  Great  Britain,"  &c.,from  pages  11 
to  18.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark,  while  on  this  subject,  that  I  have 
lived  eight  years  in  England,  where,  having  plenty  of  leisure,  I  devoted 
most  of  my  time  to  study  the  mechanism  of  its  government,  and  to  make 
out  and  appreciate  the  springs  which  give  motion  and  power  to  its  con;- 
plicaled  machinery  ;  and  it  may  be  stated,  m  Dreover,  that  I  have  been  an 
attentive  and  disinterested  observer  of  public  events  for  the  last  forty  years. 

AN  ADOPTED  CITIZEN. 

New  York,  Jan.  15t/i,  1845. 

•  The  dates  of  the  articlfc8  contained  in  this  pamphlet  have  been  taken  from  the 
original  manuscripts,  and  aa  they  vary,  now  and  then,  a  few  days  from  the  dates  they 
appeared  in  the  Daily  Globe,  I  annex  herewith,  for  the  convenience  of  those  who 
might  desire  to  compare  them,  a  correct  list  of  the  dales  they  appeared  first  in  print. 
The  articles  in  the  Globe  will  be  found  identically  the  same  is  those  in  this  pam- 
phlet ;  no  change  whatever  has  been  made,  except  those  necessary  to  correct  typo- 
graphical erroura,  and  to  connect  the  articles  together  in  their  new  form. 


1st  article  appeared  Nov.  1.^ 
2nd      '«  "  "     26 

3rd       "  "  "       0 


4th  article  appeared  Dec.  17 
.Ith       "  "  "    23 

6th       '•  ••  "    24 


7th  article  appeared  Dec.  30 
Sth      •'  '•       Jan.     1 

9th      "  "         "      7 


general 


red  Dec.  30 

Jan.     1 

"       7 


n 


Ufi- 


.    WAR  AND  OREGON. 


New  York,  November  13th,  1845. 

The  organs  of  the  British  interests  in  this  city  have  been  loud,  for  ft 
few  days  past,  in  their  denunciations  against  the  views  of  the  American 
Government  on  the  subject  of  the  Oregon  'I'erritory.  They  have  re- 
ceived their  cue  from  their  patrons  by  the  last  steamer  from  England. 
Here  is  the  substance  of  their  vituperations,  divested  from  the  foul  abuse 
with  which  fhey  are  intt'rmixed  :  They  pretend  that  the  United'States 
have  actually  acknowledr"ed  the  title  of  Great  Britain  down  to  latitude  49, 
and  that  therefore  President  Polk  was  and  is  wilfully  wrong,  in  asserting 
that  the  American  titlfe  to  Oregon  is  unquestionable.  The  Commercial  Ad- 
vertiser,the  Journal  of  Commerce,  the  Jj^xpress,  and  the  Tribune,  maintain 
alike  that  England  is  clearly  right  ou  the  subject  of  Oregon ;  and  the 
proof  thereof — as  they  aflirm — is,  that  she  is  willing  to  submit  the  case 
to  the  arbitration  of  any  croicned  head  in  Europe.  They  threaten  that 
war  is  inevitable,  if  the  resolutions  which  passed  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives last  winter  are  adopted  by  both  Houses  in  the  next  session  of 
Congress ;  and  they  point  significantly  to  the  immense  maritime  pre- 
parations of  Great  Britain,  which  many  of  the  late  English  papers  insinu- 
ate, with  an  air  of  mystery,  squint  terribly  towards  Oregon.  The  obvi- 
ous purpose  of  this  simultaneous  vwvemcnt  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  is, 
no  doubt,  to  intimidate  Congress. 

The  Morninri  Courier  and  Enquirer  of  last  Saturday,  awkwardly  enough, 
lets  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,  as  follows:  "They  (Congress)  know  now — 
wJiich  they  did  not  know  last  winter — that  to  vole  for  such  a  measure,  is  to 
vote  for  War."  The  Courier  appear  entertain  a  very  mean  opinion  of 
Congress.  The  House  of  Kepresentalives  passed  last  winter,  by  a  large 
majority,  resolutions  organising  a  government  in  Oregon  ;  but  vow  that 
they  find  that  England  threatens,  that  war,  as  is  pretended,  is  inevitable, 
they  will  no  doubt  hack  out,  says  the  Courier. 

The  zealous  endeavours  of  the  whole  oi  the  corrupt  organs  of  the  British 
interests  icill  not  succeed  to  mislead  public  opinion,  even  backed,  as  they 
appear  to  be,  by  the  leaders  oiihe  Whig  party  ;  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  of  this  country  fee!  confident  that  the  ( icncral  Government  will  in- 
sist only  on  what  is  clearly  right ;  they  know  that  llepublican  America 
has  no  chance  for  a  fair  arbitrament  from  any  of  the  Sovereigns  or  the 
Monarchies  of  Europe,  particularly  at  this  present  time,  when  European 
statesmen,  Mr.  Guizot  in  their  number,  have  publicly  made  knowa  their 
opposition  and  dislike  to  the  extension  of  Democratic  principles.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  are  generally  convinced  that  the  intrigues  of 
of  England  are  dangerous,  but  her  threats  are  harmless — regardless  of  her 
threats  we  have  annexed  Texas,  without  a  war,  and  we  will  ultimately 
have  Oregon,  without  a  war. 


I ' 


10 

It  is  no  longer  ago  than  last  year,  that  the  British  organs  and  many  of 
the  Whig  presses  predicted  v/ar  with  Mexico,  war  with  England,  in  case 
Congress  dared  to  accomplish  the  annexation  of  Texas  ;  and  now,  when 
their  false  predictions  are  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all.,  they  have  the  har- 
dihood to  make  another  attempt  at  intimidation.  That  the  organs  of  Bri- 
tish interests  should  perform  the  part  which  is  prescribed  to  them,  is  to  be 
expected  ;  but  it  is  certainly  very  strange  that  the  Whig  leaders  and  the 
Whig  editors,  especially  those  that  arc  independent  of  British  influence, 
should  be  so  infatuated  as  to  take  sides  with  Great  Britain  against  their 
own  government,  on  questions  of  naiiowa/'-'iarof/er;  they  ought  to  know 
that  our  system  of  aggrandizement  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  our  free 
institutions,  and  that,  so  far,  it  cannot  be  denied  it  has  been  effected  with- 
out war.  The  very  contexture  of  our  institutions,  and  the  working  of 
self-government  as  it  is  with  us  form,  altogether,  a  new  era  in  the  history 
ofnatiqns;  and  so  is  our  mode  of  aggrandizement — other  nations  wage 
long  wars,  possibly  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  take  a  few  towns — we 
annex  immense  territories  with  no  other  instrument  than  the  beacon  of  our 
institutions,  and  the  cordial  good  will  of  the  JPeople  who  inhabit  them. 

Some  other  day,  1  will  proceed  to  give  an  analytical  statement  of  in- 
controvertible facts,  which  will  convince  any  unprejudiced  mind,  that  the 
adoption  by  Congress  of  the  resolutions  which  pai.sed  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives last  winter,  will  not  produce  tear;  and  I  make  bold  to  pro- 
claim beforehand,  that  the  course  taken  by  President  Polk,  on  the  subject 
of  our  foreign  relations,  will  be  triumphantly  sustained  by  the  People  of 
America. 


No.  I. 


New  Yorb.    Vovember  25th,  1845. 

Will  there  lie  War  betiveen  the  United  States  and  Great 

Britain'} 

The  Whig  papers  throughout  the  county  have  generally  assumed  that 
war,  (immediate  war,  says  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,)  will  be  declared 
by  England  in  case  Congress  adopts  the  resolutions  which  last  winter 
passed  the  House  of  Representativ:;s  on  the  subject  of  Oregon.  I  asserted 
in  the  Daily  Globe  of  15tU  inst.,  in  an  article  headed  "  War  andOregon," 
that  the  threats  thrown  out  against  the  tenour  of  those  resolutions  by  the 
organs  of  British  interests  in  this  city,  were  part  of  a  concerted  movement 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  Congress,  and 
I  proceed  to-day  to  give  the  first  part  of  a  detailed  and  analytical  state- 
ment of  facts,  which  will  no  doubt  convince  the  unprejudiced  reader  that 
a  war  between  the  United  States  and  England  would,  in  a  few  years, 
]ead  iae\it&h\y  to  the  dismemberment  of  the  British  Empire.  This  asser- 
tion will  startle  many;  let  those  suspend  their  judgement  until  they  have 
gone  through  the  following  elaborate  analysis.  In  conclusion,  I  intend 
to  establish  by  fair  argument  that  the  adoption  by  Congress  of  the  Oregon 
resolutions  does  not  afford  England  reasonable  ground  of  complaint.  Great 
Britain  will  try  hard  to  bully  us  out  of  our  rights,  but  when  she  finds  out 
that  Mc  are  resolved  and  united  to  stand  by  them,  she  will  let  us  alone. 


The  analytical  disquisition  underneath  was  first  published  in  Paris,  in 
one  of  the  daily  papers  of  that  metropolis,  and  formed  part  of  a  brochvre 
in  the  French  language.  That  language,  on  account  of  its  clearness  and 
perspicuity,  is  generally  used  by  the  statesmen  of  Europe  for  dratving  out 
treaties  and  international  stipulations ;  it  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  subjects 
requiring  close  reasoning.  I  have  done  my  best  to  be  both  clear  and 
concise,  but  I  apprehend  that  the  following  t/ans'ation  may  not  be  alto- 
gether satisfactory  to  those  who  have  read  the  original. 

Paris,  Februaiy  22d,  1845. 

Wtaat  ^voiild  be  the  Result,  and  the  probable  Consequences, 
of  a  War  between  the  United  States  and  England? 

In  order  to  treat  this  question  with  the  serious  deliberation  that  it  de- 
serves, it  will  be  necessary  to  examine  carefully  what  are  the  elements 
which  constitute  the  power  of  the  two  nations,  respectively,  and  what 
are  the  principles  which  impart  action  to  the  governmental  strength  of 
the  two  countries. 

The  available  force  that  England  can  dispose  of,  for  an  aggressive  war, 
has  increased  considerably  since  1838.  It  was  about  that  peric  d  when 
armed  steamers  were  first  built  for  the  Royal  Navy  :  the  naval  armament 
of  Great  Britain,  has  reached,  at  the  present  time,  unmatched  magnitude  ; 
and  for  efficiency  to  strike  a  blow  on  a  sudden  emergency,  she  has  no 
rival  in  the  world ;  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  England  has  never  been 
in  such  a  precarious  situation  as  she  would  soon  be,  if  she  was  to  under- 
take a  war  with  any  maritime  nation  that  could  stand  the  first  brunt,  and 
protract  the  struggle  for  a  few  years.  If  such  an  occurrence  was  to  hap- 
pen, her  situation  would,  indeed,  be  much  more  perilous  than  it  ever 
was  before  1815.  This  discrepancy  will  strike  one  at  first  as  being  very 
strange  ;  but  it  is  accounted  for  by  the  material  change  that  has  taken 
place  in  the  principal  element  of  her  power.  In  order  to  appreciate  fully 
the  e<fi:ct  of  that  material  change,  it  is  incumbent  to  trace  minutely  the 
incipient  beginning  thereof — its  progressive  importance — its  direct  ten- 
dency, and  the  actual  result. 

From  the  year  1793  to  1815,  at  the  time  when  the  British  Aristocracy 
were  waging  war  against  revolutionary  France  and  against  the  French 
.Emperor,  the  whole  of  English  funds  and  capital  was  invested  at  homcy 
chiefly  in  manufactories ;  the  monopoly  of  manufacturing  for  all  Europe 
was  then  the  principal  element  of  the  power  of  England  ;  there  was  not 
any  other  manufacturing  nation  on  the  continent,  and  the  people  thereof 
could  not  do  without  British  manufactures  ;  and  although  Napoleon  tried 
his  might  to  exclude  them,  they  were  in  such  request  that  they  found 
their  way  to  the  continent,  partly  through  smuggling,  partly  through  the 
secret  connivance  of  the  authorities  on  the  seaboard,  and  Napoleon  him- 
self was  constrained,  through  absolute  necessity,  to  adopt  the  system  of 
granting  licenses,  and  whenever  the  aggregate  exportation  of  British 
goods  was  less,  the  profits  were  larger  ;  England  through  these  means 
■was  able  to  struggle  until  the  time  that  the  blunders  of  Napoleon  ena- 
bled her,  in  1813  and  1814,  to  literally  overstock  the  whole  continen. 
with  her  goods,  and  to  realize  thereby  enormous  profits. 

Meanwhile,  ageneral  peace  took  place  in  1815,  and  the  various  nations 
'of  Europe,  feeling  uo  longer  any  apprehensions  of  w^r^  turned  their  at- 


ir 


13 

tention  to  manufacturing,  and  within  the  short  space  of  two  or  three 
years,  the  competition  of  these  rising  manufactories  was  more  effective 
to  curtail  the  gains  of  England,  than  had  ever  been  the  famous  continen- 
tal system  of  Napoleon  ;  and  while  Europe  was  gradually  getting  over 
the  evils  of  war,  England  was  overtaken  by  a  most  violent  commercial 
revulsion.  The  massacres  of  the  operatives  at  Manchester  took  place 
in  1819,  public  order  was  threatened  in  many  of  the  populous  counties, 
conspiracies  against  the  government  were  detected,  a  number  of  persons 
were  hung  for  treason,  civil  war  was  rile,  and  the  situation  of  the  coun- 
try, altogether,  was,  for  some  time,  very  critical. 

The  contrast  that  existed  then  betweon  the  situation  of  Great  Britain 
and  that  of  the  other  countries  of  Europe,  exhibits  in  a  most  striking 
light  the  artificial  basis  upon  which  tests  British  prosperity ;  on  the  one 
hand,  the  various  nations  of  the  continent,  in  establishing  manufactures 
for  their  own  consumption,  released  themselves  from  paying  tribute  to 
England,  and  increased  thereby  essentially  the  Avelfare  of  the  masses ; 
while  on  the  other,  the  working  classes  of  Great  Britain  were  reduced  to 
the  greatest  wretchedness  ;  and  this  took  place  almost  as  soon  as  she 
lost  the  monopoly  of  manufacturers  ;  the  principal  element  of  her  supre- 
macy being  thus  impaired  the  superstructure  of  the  British  Empire  was 
violently  shaken,  and  while  peace  was  a  blessing  to  Europe,  it  was  a 
blight  to  the  system  of  the  British  Aristocracy. 

This  critical  state  of  things,  if  it  had  lasted  long,  would  have  left  no 
■other  remedy  to  the  English  people  than  that  of  rising  en  masse  against 
the  privileged  class,  and  at  once  to  put  down  a  grasping  Aristocracy  that 
allows  them  the  means  of  living  merely,  by  encroaching  on  the  just  rights 
of  other  nations. 

In  the  meantime,  the  revolt  of  the  Spanish  colonies  had,  since  1815, 
opened  the  whole  of  South  America  to  British  commerce,  but  the  war 
that  existed  between  Spain  and  her  Colonies  prevented  this  new  market 
from  being,  at  first,  very  profitable,  but  gradually  an  increase  took  place, 
part  of  the  enormous  capital  that  was  inert  in  England  on  account  of  the 
prostration  of  business  was  invested  in  the  New  World  by  various  com- 
panies, who  thereby  monopolized  the  valuable  produce,  and  the  rich 
mines  of  those  extensive  countries,  and  the  immediate  result  of  thcF  . 
operations  was  to  relieve  England  from  her  critical  situation  :  it  was  then 
nhat  began  the  material  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  principal  ele- 
meit  of  her  power;  England  did  not  discontinue  manufacturing,  but  she 
became  by  degrees,  pre-eminently  a  louning-money  nation— I  mean  a 
nation  loaning  on  pledges  ;  it  was  by  loaning  nloney  to  the  governments  of 
Mexico,  of  Peru,  of  Columbia,  of  Chili,  of  Brazils,  &c.,  &c.,  than  Eng- 
land obtained  exclusive  privileges,  mortgages  on  the  land  and  on  the 
revenue,  special  treaties  of  commerce,  and  lastly,  a  spirited  revival  of  her 
transactions  with  Europe,  which  she  laid  under  contribution  by  supply- 
ing it  with  the  various  productions  of  South  America. 

The  System  of  loaning  in  foreign  lands  having  been  adopted  through 
necessity,  and  the  allurement  of  high  interests  stimulating  besides  British 
cupidity,  things  have  come  to  that  pass  that  from  one'to  two  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  have  been  loaned  in  the  United  States  without  obtain- 
ing any  pledge  of  a  national  character,  unless  it  be  admitted  that  the  ad- 
rantage  of  corrupting  thereby  part  of  the  population  may  be  considered 


13 


no 


1815, 


as  such;  and  progressively,  all  the  capitalists  of  England,  including,  of 
course,  the  aristocracy  (viz.,  the  rulers  of  the  country,)  without  hardly 
an  exception,  have  invested  their  funds,  either  in  foreign  lands  or  in  for- 
eign speculations  and  undertakings  :  the  natural  consequence  of  adopting 
that  system  on  such  a  gigantic  scale,  is  to  renderthe  whole  world  tributary 
to  England,  but  in  case  of  war  with  a  maritinne  nation  powerful  enough 
to  protract  the  contest  for  two  or  three  years,  it  is  self-evident  that  the  now 
principal  element  of  her  supremacy  would  be  in  most  imminent  jeopar- 
dy ;  and  by  reverting  to  the  critical  situation  of  Great  Britain  from  1817 
to  1819,  when  the  /Aen  principal  element  of  her  power  became  impaired 
by  losing  part  of  the  monopoly  of  manufactures,  we  may  form  an  ade- 
quate idea,  if  a  long  war  were  to  take  place,  of  the  shock  and  injury  that 
would  be  inflicted  on  an  empire  whose  superstructure,  at  this  present 
time,  is  raised  on  transacting  the  commerce,  and  regulating  the  finances 
of  the  whole  world. 

Anterior  to  1815,  the  monnpohj  of  manvfactiires  enabled  England  to 
wage  war  against  France  by  subsidizing  some  of  the  continental  powers, 
and  she  thereby  succeeded  in  keeping  the  whole  of  Europe  in  continental 
strife  :  but  now,  in  case  of  an  obstinate  war,  her  extensive  loans  to  foreign 
countries  would  be  completely  exposed  to  exterior  casualities ;  and  let  it 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  all  the  riches,  all  the  produce,  all  the  tribute,  that 
every  tide  wafts  to  her  shores,  has  become  absolutely  necessary,  even  for 
keeping  up  her  peace  establishment.  The  false  and  iniquitous  system 
upon  which  her  greatness  is  established,  requires,  atall  times,  a  standing 
army  of  mercenaries,  and  numerous  fleets  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  ready 
to  crush  down  at  once  all  rising  resistance  to  her  oppression,  and  if  her 
already  enormous  expenditure  was  to  be  greatly  swelled  on  account  of 
war,  at  the  same  time  that  her  receipts  would  be  materially  curtailed,  it  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  it  would  try  hard  the  cohesion  of  the  British  empire. 
Even  now,  in  time  of  peace,  she  cannot  get  rid  of  her  income  tax,  that 
used  to  be  laid  formerly  only  in  time  of  war ;  and  it  has  been  afErmed  last 
year  in  Parliament,  by  ministerial  members,  that  to  grant  two  hours  of 
rest  to  the  wretched  children  whose  life  is  being  shortened  by  being 
bound  to  toil  from  12  to  16  hours  in  the  factories,  would  put  in  great 
danger  the  supremacy,  and  even  the  existence  of  Great  Britain. 

The  principles  that  impart  action  to  the  governmental  strength  of 
Great  Britain,  proceed  from  the  impulse  given  by  a  vigorous  and  talented 
Aristocracy,  whose  untired  and  united  eflbrts  concentrate  at  one  point, 
viz.,  inordinate  aggrandizement:  they  number  but  a  few  hundred  indi- 
viduals, and  the  greatest  part  of  the  land  belongs  to  them,  by  entail.  That 
privileged  caste  whose  members  die,  but  whose  Michiavelian  spirit  is  in- 
variably caught  and  sustained  by  those  who  take  their  place,  has,  since 
the  revolution  of  1688,  persevered  without  intermission  in  its  encroach- 
ing views,  going  to  war  or  making  peace,  according  to  circumstances, 
but  in  all  cases  consulting  only  its  own  selfish  interest,  without  caring 
for  justice,  otherwise  than  in  wordy  professions  ;*  and  by  spoliating,  suc- 

*  By  the  time  the  reader  will  have  read  this  article  through,  he  will  understand 
the  reason  why  the  British  Aristocracy  lias  been  so  pacific  in  their  transactions  with 
the  great  powers  of  the  world  for  these  last  fifteen  to  twenty  years,  while  previous  to 
1S15  they  took  every  opportunity  to  embroil  Europe  in  long  w?rs  ;  their  principlea 
remain  the  same,  but  their  interests  have  materially  changed  since  they  have  become 
wholesale  money  lenders. 

The  pretended  division  of  British  Aristocracy  in  two  parties  denominated  the  Whig 


f,'i- 


' 


14 

cesstvely,  Spain,  France,  Holland,  Portugal,  India,  China,  &c.,  she  has 
lucceeded  to  raise  up  a  gigantic  empire,  whereof,  Manufactures,  Com- 
merce, and  Finances,  are  the  three  fundamental  parts.  Paper  money  has 
been  the  contrivance  that  has  been  used  to  give  a  monopolizing  extension 
to  these  three  organic  parta,  and  it  has  been  accomplished  by  raising  the 
•wind  with  promises  to  pay,  to  the  amount  of  £800,000,000  !  and  the  due 
payment  of  the  interest  of  that  enormous  debt  is  a  powerful  hold  on  the 

food  behaviour  of  the  actual  creditors.  The  branches  of  that  overgrown 
Empire  have  by  degrees  spread  all  over  the  world  ;  but  the  basis  remains 
the  same,  and  instead  of  increasing  in  strength,  it  has  grown  weaker, 
particularly  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  that  England  has  been  invest- 
ing, and  involving  out  of  the  country,  the  principal  organic  element  of 
that  basis,  becoming  thereby  pre-eminently,  as  I  have  before  stated,  a 
nation  loaning  money  on  pledges. 

The  logical  inferences  of  the  preceding  elaborate  exposition,  are  now 
easy  to  be  drawn,  and  it  becomes  a  matter  of  evidence  that  a  maritime 
■war  of  a  few  years  between  the  United  States  and  England  would  have 
the  following  results,  so  far  as  concerns  Great  Britain. 

The  revenue,  interests,  dividends,  tribute,  that  she  now  collects  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  would  fall  short  more  or  less — her  maritime  com- 
merce would  be  partly  ruined  by  privateers — the  immense  market  of  the 
United  States  for  the  purchase  of  the  raw  materials,  and  for  the  outlet  of 
her  fabrics  would  be  closed  against  her — her  manufactures  could  no  longer 
stand  a  competition  with  those  of  France,  of  Germany,  of  Switzerland, 
and  of  those  of  the  continent  in  general. 

It  becomes,  thus,  self-evident,  that  the  fundamental  parts  of  the  British 
Empire  would  be  materially  impaired,  and  by  giving  way,  the  whole  su  • 
perstructure  would  tumble  into  fragments. 

An  analysis  of  the  elements  of  the  power  of  the  United  States  will  be 
the  subject  of  the  next  article. 

and  the  Tory  party,  is  a  mere  gull-trap  to  deceive  the  people  into  the  belief  that 
there  are  some  patriots  amone  them ;  it  has  the  advantage,  besides,  whenever  they 
find  that  a  change  of  measures  becomes  necessary,  to  enable  them  to  do  it  with  good 
grace  by  letting  the  Whigs  or  the  Tories,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  take  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs  in  opposition  to  their  sham  opponents. 

The  Tories  are  generally  the  most  violent  and  warlike,  and  the  Whigs  are  the 
most  liberal  and  pacific.  But  in  some  cases  the  character  of  the  party  is  inter- 
verted,  as  it  wasAkjnstance,  under  the  Whig  administration  of  Melbourne  and 
iPalmerston.  ^v' 

The  increase  of  the  influence  of  France  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  particularly  the 
independent  course  of  the  Pacha  of  Egypt  in  1839  and  1840,  were  galling  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  British  Aristocracy,  and  threatened  to  blight  their  long-cherished  plan  of 
-connecting  their  East  India  Empire  with  Europe  by  controlling  Egypt  from  the  Red 
Sea  to  Alexandria.  Ibrahim  Pacha  was  in  full  march  on  Constantinople ;  there  was 
no  time  to  lose  for  preparing  a  change  of  i  racters.  So  the  Whig  Administration 
played  the  part  of  tne  Tories,  and  they  did  so  admirably  ;  they  framed  the  treaty  of  the 
iiuadruple  Alliance,  landed  in  Syria,  check-mated  Ibrahim,  settled  the  affairs  of  Tur- 
key and  Egypt  in  their  own  way,  gave  a  terrible  kick  to  their  good  friend  Louis 
Fhilip)>j,  whom  Lord  Palmerston  publicly  declared  he  could  at  any  time  shove  through 
4he_eye  of  a  needle.  Following  up  the  encroaching  policy,  they  sent  an  armament  to 
China,  slaughtered  the  defenceless  Chinese,  took  their  ports,  their  bullion,  and  as 
high  a  tribute  as  they  could  extort.  The  boldness  of  these  movements  gave  a  gene- 
Tal  alarm  to  all  Europe  ;  but  British  Aristocracy  knows  when  to  push  on  and  when 
to  stop — they  found  tnat  the  pear  was  not  quite  ripe,  a  change  of  policy  became 
necenary,  and  the  Tories  as  meek  as  lambs,  took  the  place  of  the  Whigs. 


H 


:c.,  she  has 
ires,  Coin- 
money  hag 

extension 
raising  the 
nd  the  due 
kold  on  the 
overgrown 
is  remains 
weaker, 
een  invest- 
eleinenl  of 

stated,  a 

1,  are  now 
I  maritime 
rould  have 

Ilects  from 
itime  com- 
•ket  of  the 
le  outlet  of 
i no  longer 
vitzerland, 

the  British 
whole  6U  ■ 

es  will  be 


belief  that 
enever  they 
t  with  good 
adminiatra- 

igs  are  the 
ty  is  inter- 
bourne  and 

icularly  the 
to  the  feel- 
led  plan  of 
)m  the  Red 
there  was 
linistration 
saty  of  the 
JrsofTur- 
end  Louis 
ve  through 
33ament  to 
30,  and  as 
'e  a  gene- 
and  when 
7  became 


,'tr;,<'   s  ^.4?;i,'.'^   >,i.  :itj»-^t»/.-    ijjjit."    -u. 


•tKU 


No.  n. 


Paris,  March  2d,  1843. 


What  would  be  the  Result,  and  tlie  Probable  Consequences^, 
of  a  War  betiveen  the  United  States  and  li^ngland  1 

I  proceed,  to-day,  to  investigate  the  reasons,  the  causes,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances, that  will  enable  the  United  States  to  sustain  a  long  and 
obstinate  war ;  and,  moreover,  to  analyze  their  means  of  resistance 
against  the  immense  aggressive  means  of  Great  Britain. 

The  principal  element  of  the  force  and  ascendency  of  the  American 
Republic  consists  in  the  peculiar  energy  of  the  Yeomanry  of  the  country, 
united  to  the  immense  territorial  resources  it  controls,  and  to  the  advan- 
tages it  holds  forth  to  the  oppressed  population  of  the  despotic  Govern- 
ments of  Europe.  In  England,  the  owners  by  entail  of  the  greatest 
portion  of  the  land,  count  up  a  few  hundreds — in  the  United  States  they 
uumber  millions.  Those  millions  of  Freemen,  in  the  strongest  sense  of 
the  word,  are  inured  to  hardships  by  daily  labour  in  the  open  air,  and  they 
take  hold  with  equal  skill,  as  circumstances  require,  the  plough,  the  axe, 
or  the  rifle  ;  they  would  fight  in  defence  of  the  soil  that  belongs  to  them 
with  an  intelligence  and  a  tenacity  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  country. 
The  regular  army  of  the  Republican  Americans  does  not  exceed  nine 
thousand  men.*  They  are  conscious  of  their  strength — and  the  invio- 
lability of  the  soil  is  safely  entrusted  to  the  well-known  devotion  of  the 
masses  to  a  form  of  government,  whereof  every  individual  constitutes  a 
part,  and  which  every  individual  has  a  personal  interest  to  sustain. 

There  are  about  a  million  of  citizen  soldiers  in  the  United  States,  an- 
nually drilled  to  militia  duty,  and  two  millions — if  it  was  necessary — ■ 
would  take  up  arn.  -  to  defend  their  institutions,  their  homes,  and  their 
lands,  against  foreign  invasion.  The  deadly  aim  of  the  American  rifle 
has  become  proverbial ;  it  was  fully  demonstrated  at  New  Orleans,  in 
1815,  when  a  few  thousand  of  the  militia  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky, 
with  a  few  hundreds  of  French  sailors,  totally  touted  15,000  men,  saicT  to 
be,  at  the  time,  the  choicest  troops  of  the  British  army.  It  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  British  organs  in  America,  when  these  fifteen  thousand 
men  landed,  that  they  were  "  the  conquerors  of  the  conquerors  of  Eu- 
rope." They  were  actually  part  of  the  British  army  which  had  invaded 
France,  udder  Wellington,  in  1814.  This  remarkable  victory  is  not  an 
exceptionable  case  ;  the  battle  of  St.  Jacynth  was  fought,  with  a  similar 
result :  about  seven  hundred  of  American  adventurers  completely  cut  to 
pieces  the  Mexican  army  of  Santa  Anna,  6,000  strong. 

On  the  seaboard  the  United  States  have  nothing  serious  to  apprehend 
from  England — the  means  of  transportation  are  so  rapid  and  efficient, 
through  numberless  steamers  and  railroads,  which  traverse  the  country  in 
all  directions,  that  there  is  not  a  single  spot  from  Boston  to  New  Orleans 
but  where  60  to  80  thousand  men  might  be  cor.centrated  in  the  short 

*  This  was  tlie  total  number  when  I  left  America  in  1S43 :  I  find  now,  by  the  late- 
Report  of  the  War  Department,  that  it  has  been  reduced  to  6,500  men. 

.  -St-  '-       . 


* 
/ 


«p 


*l; 


16 

space  of  two  or  three  weeks ;  the  British,  it  is  true,  might  land  ;  they 
might  possibly  destroy  one  or  two  of  the  large  cities  on  the  Atlantic  ; 
it  is  a  game,  however,  they  will  be  slow  to  undertake,  for  the  loss  that 
would  ensue  thereby  to  the  British  commerce  and  to  British  interests 
would  be  nearly  as  heavy  as  that  of  the  Americans.  They  might,  ac- 
cording to  their  usual  warfare,  burn  a  few  towns,  but  they  would  soon 
be  compelled  to  make  their  escape  to  their  ships,  their  numbers  greatly 
diminished  by  death,  the  prisoners  taken  from  them,  and  the  missinq ; 
the  British  soldiers  know  well,  and  their  desertion  from  Canada  to  the 
United  States,  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  proves  it  frequently,  that  the 
Democratic  institutions  of  the  United  States,  and  a  few  acres  of  land  to 
make  themselves  independent,  are  more  conducive  to  their  welfare  than 
the  flogging  they  receive  now  and  then,  to  encourage  them  to  sustain  the 
glory  of  Old  England. 

On  the  north,  northeast,  and  northwest  frontiers  of  the  United  States, 
England  might  act  with  much  better  chance  of  success ;  the  passage 
which  she  has  obtained  through  the  Slate  of  Maine  by  the  Ashburton 
treaty*  has  made  her  position  in  North  America  truly  formidable  ;  it 
enables  her  to  send  troops  to  Canada  in  the  heart  of  winter — it  increases 
incalculably  her  means  of  organizing  and  planning  aggressive  excursions 
against  the  frontier  towns  on  the  lakes,  and  whenever  the  depradatory 
troops  would  meet  with  effectual  resistance  they  might  fall  back  on  their 
fortified  points,  &c.  The  United  States  would,-  no  doubt,  perceive  the 
dangerous  consequences  that  would  ensue  of  comYnunication  being  kept 
up  actively  between  Halifax  and  England  through  the  means  of  steamers ; 
they  might  be  averted  by  collecting  a  large  force  and  marching  it,  on  the 
first  intimation  of  hostilities,  into  Nova  Scotia,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
Halifax,  if  possible — if  not,  to  blockade  it  strictly  by  land,  proclaiming 
at  once  the  independence  of  Canada.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
American  militia,  although  supfriour  to  any  other  when  defending  their 
own  soil,  are  deficient  for  an  offensive  war.  Let  us  concede  the  worst. 
Let  us  suppose  that  England  would  hold  her  own  in  Canada,  and  that  her 
emissaries  should  succeed  to  stir  up  the  Indian  tribes  against  the  United 
States — it  cannot  be  denied  but  that  such  a  cruel  border  war  would  inflict 
very  great  individual  misery,  but  no  farther  advantage  would  accrue  to 
Great  Britain;  it  would  nSt  enable  the  English  troops  to  penetrate  suc- 
cessfully into  the  United  States.  Any  British  General  that  would  leave 
the  protection  of  the  fortified  camps  on  the  frontiers,  and  make  an  attempt 
to  advance  into  the  interior  of  the  Union,  would  meet  the  fate  of  Bur- 
goyne,  who  was  taken  prisoner  at  Saratoga,  in  1777,  with  8,000  men. 
The  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  citizen  soldiers  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  acting  in  concert  with  the  hardy  yeomanry  of  Maine,  of  New 
Hampshire,  of  Vermont,  and  of  Michigan,  could  effectually  annihilate 
or  scatter  any  force  the  British  might  muster  in  North  America. 

At  the  south  England  would  very  likely  try  to  stir  up  the  blacks  to 
rise  up  against  the  whites.     It  is  doubtful  whether  they  could  succeed  ; 

•  It  enables  England  to  keep  Canada  connected  at  all  titnes  with  her  other  scattered 
provinces  in  North  America.  Before  the  Ashburton  'I'rcaty,  Canada  was  without 
direct  intercourse,  seven  months  out,  of  twelve,  except  tlirough  the  United  States. 
The  disgraceful  concession  that  has  been  made  by  yielding  such  an  important  passage 
is  clearly  and  forcibly  demonstrated  in  the  French  hochttre,  wherefrom  the  above 
is  a  translation  :  it  will  be  the  subject  of  a  separate  article. 


17 


were  Ihey  ubie,  however,  tu  du  it,  the  Soutlicvn  Stiites  would  theu  be, 
no  doubt,  the  theatre  of  a  frightful  slaughter;  but  the  genei al  vxaspera- 
tion  that  such  a  horrible  act  would  excite  all  over  the  country,  would 
settle  the  question  at  once.  Peace  wUh  England  would  become  impossibley 
so  long  as  she  would  own  an  inch  of  ground  in  North  America. 

On  land,  Great  Britain  has  no  chance  to  force  her  terms  on  the 
American  Republic.  At  sea,  she  might,  it  is  admitted,  destroy  materially 
her  maritime  commerce  ;  but  although  maritime  commerce  has  been 
greatly  conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States,  it  is  by  no 
means  an  indispensiible  clement  of  their  existence;  it  iiiay,  indeed,  be 
asseited,  that  there  is  no  country  on  the  globe  that  could  so  easily  dis- 
pense with  foreign  commerce  as  the  United  States,  considering  that  the 
Union  has  within  itself  such  a  variety  of  productions  and  raw  materials, 
of  territorial  resources,  and  of  manufactories  withal,  whose  bu.sincss 
would  increase  materially  by  getting  rid  of  English  competition.  How- 
ever, even  at  sea,  the  United  States  have,  in  the  last  war,  from  1S12  to 
1815,  bearded  the  tjritish  Leopard,  and  the  changes  and  modifications 
that  the  introduction  of  steam-power  in  the  navy  will  produce  in  a  mari- 
time war,  would  be  mostly  to  the  advantage  of  America.  A  strict  block- 
ade of  the  coast  would  be  nearly  impracticable— sti  im  fireships  might  be 
stationed  at  the  mouth  and  entrance  of  every  river  and  harbour — Brili.sh 
cruisers  would  have  to  keep  away  at  a  distance,  and  the  numerous  ileet 
of  fine  sailing  packets  in  port,  might  be  filled  out  as  privateers,  and 
would  have  a  rare  chance  to  make  depredations  on  British  commerce  on 
every  sea.  England  would,  no  doubt,  semi,  at  the  outset.,  a  powerful 
armament  of  her  armed  steamers  ;  but  England  has  so  many  places  to 
guard  and  protect,  that  it  would  be  impossible  even  for  her  to  keep  up, 
for  any  length  of  time,  on  such  extensive  coasts,  a  sufficient  force  to  be 
able  to  resist  the  steam  fireships  that  might  issue  from  every  creek  and 
outlet,  at  every  favourable  opportunity;  and  thereby  the  blockading  force 
might  be,  night  and  day,  threatened  with  total  destruclicn. 

The  reader  is  by  this  time,  no  doubt,  satisfied  that  the  United  States 
are  able  to  sustain  a  long  and  obstinate  war  against  Great  Britain;  but  in 
order  to  dispose  of  this  question  logically,  I  will  proceed  to  explain  the 
principles  that  impart  action  to  the  governmental  strength  of  the  United 
States.  According  to  the  federal  contract,  the  various  States  have  re- 
served to  themselves  all  the  powers  which  have  not  been  delegated  in 
clear  and  precise  terms,  to  the  General  Government.  The  Constitution, 
it  is  true,  delegates  to  Congress  the  right  of  declaring  war  ;  but  even  that 
power  is  never  used,  but  when  a  large  majority  of  electors  (that  is  to 
say,  a  large  majority  of  the  nation)  is  actually  in  its  favour ;  the  necessity 
of  a  large  majority  being  needed  to  warrant  a  declaration  of  war,  proceeds 
from  this  simple  fact,  "  that  all  the  powers  emanate  directly  from  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people."  Under  such  a  system,  an  unjust  war  can  hardly 
ever  be  attempted,  and  it  accounts  for  the  forbearance  of  the  American 
Administration  from  1805  to  1812.  They  protested  against  the  indig- 
nities that  Great  Britain  was  heaping  on  American  citizens  ;  but  Congress 
bore  them  for  seven  years,  and  war  was  deliberately  and  coolly  declared, 
only  when  a  large  majority  of  the  nation  became  aroused  to  the  necessity 
of  avenging  their  wrongs.  That  war,  of  course,  was  national,  and  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Federalist  party,  whose  leaders  fiercely  opposed  it, 

3 


18 


I.|l 


|[ 


■     1v 


rallied  round  the  majority.  At  this  present  time,  many  qf  the  influen- 
tial leaders  of  the  Whig  pnrty  are  closely  connected  with  British  inte- 
rests and  virith  British  capitalists  ;  these  individuals,  acting  in  concert 
with  the  numerous  class  of  speculators,  use  their  influence  over  the 
presses  under  their  control,  and  leave  no  means  untried  to  promote  indi- 
rectly the  views  of  Great  I3ritnin  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  &.c. 
Some  of  these  do  so  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  contract  some  new  loans 
in  England,  for  the  purpose  of  going  on,  as  they  say,  with  what  they 
call  internal  improvemenls;  but  the  most  that  the  opposition  of  these 
men  proves,  is,  that  there  are  selfish  men  in  America,  the  same  as  in 
other  countries ;  but  if  war  was  actually  to  take  place,  many  of  these  ego- 
tists would  become  the  most  inveterate  enemies  of  Great  Britain;  they 
would  try  to  make  up  their  anticipated  gains  by  fitting  out  privateers 
against  British  commerce,  with  the  hope  of  filling  their  pockets  there- 
from ;  and  the  popular  feeling  of  the  two  great  American  parties,  in  case 
of  war,  would  fully  agree  upon  this  point — to  make  one  great  effort  to 
exclude  England  altogether  from  the  American  continent. 

The  summing  up  of  the  juxtaposition  of  facts  above  ininutely  exposed, 
may  now  be  made  briefly,  and  the  underneath  inferences  must  appear  ir- 
resistible. 

A  declaration  of  war  by  Great  Britain  against  the  United  States,  on 
account  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  or  else,  on  account  of  the  projected 
occupancy  of  Oregon,  according  to  the  resolutions  adopted  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  would  be  a  war  of  a  minority  government,  resting  on 
an  artificial  basis,  whereof  the  three  organic  and  fundamental  parts  a^e 
more  or  less  exposed  to  be  impaired,  against  a  majority  government,  the 
strength  whereof  proceeds  direct  from  the  cordial  adhesion  of  the  masses, 
which  government  is  supported,  ^ar/jc«/ar/^,  by  the  energy  and  intelli- 
gence of  an  agiicultural  population  of  nearly  three  millions  of  freemen, 
whose  territorial  resources  and  means  of  living,  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
British  aggression. 

The  inevitable  result  of  such  a  war,  carried  on  with  animosity  for  a 
number  of  years,  must  be 

THE  DISMEMBERMENT  OF  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE,  SUCH 
AS  IT  IS  NOW  CONSTITUTED. 
The  C0H8SQDENCE8  that  would  naturally  ensue,  from  such  an  event, 
would  be  the  following : 

THE  ULTIMATE  TRIUMPH  OF  DEMOCRATIC  INSTITUTIONS,  WHOCiE 
BENEFICENT  EXPANSION  WOULD  DIFFUSE  ITS  BENEFITS  ON  A  MUCH 
ENLARGED  SCALE. 

THE  REGENERATION  AND  ENFRANCHISEMENT  OF  THE  POPULAR 
MASSES  OF  IRELAND,  ENGLAND,  AND  SCOTLAND;  WHO,  BY  SHAKING 
OFF  THE  YOKE  OF  A  GRASPING  AND  MACHIAVELIAN  OLIGARCHY, 
WOULD  THEREBY  IMPROVE  THEIR  SITUATION,  BY  BEING  NO  LONGER* 
REDUCED,  EITHER  TO  BE  PAUPERS,  OR  TO  TOIL  INCESSANTLY  FOR  A 
WRETCHED  PITTANCE,  IN  ORDER  THAT  THEY  MAY  GIVE  TO  THEIR 
OPPRESSORS  THE  MEANS  OF  MONOPOLIZING  ALTOGETHER,  THE  COM- 
MERCE, THE  FINANCES,  THE  POLICE,  AND  THE^SfPiOJV^GJSOFTHE 
WHOLE  WORLD. 


reat  effort  to 


Nkw  York,  December  4th,  1845. 

No  impartial  person  of  common  understandJDg  can  rise  from  reading 
with  attention  this  translation  of  the  French  brochure,  without  assenting 
to  its  conclusions.  The  writer  thereof  proceeds  minutely  through  the 
whole  article  with  lo,s;ical  precision,  tracing  events  to  their  incipient 
causes  ;  and  he  is  particularly  careful  not  to  draw  any  inference  until  it 
is  warranted  by  preceding  reasoning  or  statements.  All  the  facts  brought 
forward  are  matter  of  history,  and  the  writer  has  classed  and  grouped 
them  with  such  clearness  and  force,  that  there  is  no  resisting  the  evi- 
dence. 

In  corroboration  of  the  views  exposed  in  the  French  brochure,  I  here- 
with transcribe  an  extract  from  tho  London  Globe  of  the  11th  of  Febru-  ' 
ary  last,  in  an  article  headed  "  Fortifications  of  London"  :  «*  But  Eng- 
land canftot  afford  an  invasion,  her  power  is  based  upon  commercial 
greatness,  upon  commercial  .security,  and  faith,  and  confidence  ;  let  those 
be  shaken  and  the  whole  fabric  fulls." 


No.  in. 

Nemt  York,  December  13, 1846. 

Will  there  be  War  between  the  (Jnited  States  and  Great 

Britain  1 

Preparatory  to  resuming  my  remarks  on  the  above  question,  I  subjoin 

underneath  the  strictures  on  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  which  I  adverted  to 

in  the  last  number. 

Paris,  January  20th,  1845. 

The  Ashburtcn  Treaty-,  and  the  Reasona  wby  It  hoi  mode  the  Annexation  of 
Texas  popular  In  the  United  States. 

The  news  lately  received  from  the  United  States,  represent  the  popu- 
lar feeling  in  favour  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  as  daily  gaining  ground  ; 
the  impulse  that  produces  it,  proceeds,  from  a  cause  that  begins  to  be  felt 
in  the  Northern  States,  although  that  cause  has  not  yet  been  publicly 
divulged.  The  reasons  why  the  American  press  has  been  silent  there- 
upon, will  be  easily  seen  through  on  reading  the  following  explanation. 
It  is  now  given  in  France,  for  the  purpose  of  refuting,  at  once,  the  daily 
abuse  belched  out  by  the  British  press,  concerning  what  it  calls  the  grasp- 
ing ambition  of  the  United  States  ;  the  cause  alluded  to  is  briefly  explained 
underneath.  " 

The  Ashburton  Treaty  has  enabled  England  to  assume  a  threatening, 
and  a  truly  formidable  attitude  on  the  Northern  and  Northwestern  fron- 
tiers of  the  Federal  Union.  The  new  position  created  by.  that  treaty, 
enables  her  to  stir  up,  on  a  great  scale,  the  whole  of  the  Indian  nations 
and  tribes  which  have  been  of  late  years  mostly  concentrated  West  of 
the  Mississippi,  many  of  them  with  hostile  feelings  against  the  United 
States.  Admitting  the  assertion  as  to  the  effect  of  the  treaty  to  be  true, 
it  will  be  easily  conceived,  by  looking  over  a  chart  of  America,  how  im- 
portant it  is  to  prevent  Great  Britain  from  extending  her  protection  to 
Texas,  and  from  cementing  with  that  country  n  connexion  akin  to  the 
one  she  established  formerly  with  Portugal ;  it  would,  undoubtedly,  en- 


m 


\ 


1*5 


able  her  to  contra/ altogether  the  Uult'ol'  McaIcu;  and  it  would  give  her 
an  entering  wedgo  to  scatter  her  emissiirie!)  oniong  the  Indian  tribeti  os 
fariip  ns  lake  Michigan,  and  thereby  encircle  with  enemies  the  whole  of 
the  VVestem  frontier  of  the  Union  from  North  to  South,  which  eneniie* 
would  rise  up  at  her  bidding ;  and  in  order  to  demonstrate  the  strict 
truth  of  the  above  assertion,  as  to  the  dangerous  consequences  of  the 
Ashburton  Treaty,  I  am  going  to  set  forth,  as  clearly  and  ns  forcibly  as  I 
possibly  can,  the  position  of  Hngland  before  th3  treaty,  and  compare  it 
with  what  it  is  now,  and  what  it  may  be  within  a  short  time. 

In  the  month  of  November,  1837,  a  general  rising  of  the  people  of 
Canada  took  plnco  against  the  Colonial  Government.  The  river  St. 
Lawrence  was  then  bound  in  icy  fetters,  and  the  news  reached  England 
through  the  United  States,  ns  no  part  of  Canada  can  be  approached  from 
sen  in  winter  time.  Halifax,  in  Nova  Scotia,  is  the  only  harbour  that  has 
a  free  communication  with  England  all  the  year  round  ;  but  Halifax,  be- 
fore the  Ashburton  Treaty,  could  not  communicate  with  Canada,  on  ac- 
count of  a  strip  of  land  belonging  to  the  State  of  Maine,  which  stretched 
80  far  North  in  those  uncultivated  and  dreary  regions  as  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  its  being  turned.  The  result  was,  that  England,  notwith- 
standing her  large  standing  army  and  her  numerous  fleets,  could  not  send 
a  single  regiment  to  strengthen  the  garrison.  The  St.  Lawrence  did  not 
open  until  the  enc'  of  the  month  of  May,  and  England  would  no  douSt 
kave  lost,  forever,  her  colony ;  if  local  causes  *  had  not  enabled  the 
Colonial  Government  to  get  over  their  adversaries  without  any  material 
aid  from  the  metropolis. 

Anterior  to  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  the  Northern  and  Western  frontiers 
of  the  Union  were  comparatively  safe,  as,  in  case  of  war,  Canada  was 
actually  cut  out  from  England  seven  months  out  of  t^velve.  It  was  then 
annually  dependant  on  the  United  States  for  supplies  and  intelligence 
from  abroad — that  is,  from  the  month  of  November  to  the  month  of 
May.  The  Ashburton  Treaty  has  brought  about  a  complete  change.  That 
part  of  the  State  of  Maine  which  England  had  been  so  long  coveting,  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  a  short  and  easy  communication  between  Halifax 
and  Canada,  havi^.g  been  given  up  to  her  by  the  United  States,  a  mili- 
tary road  has  alrijady  been  completed  ;  a  railway  is  even  talked  of,  and 
now,  the  British  Minintry  can  send  direct,  despatches,  emissaries,  ammu- 
nitions, troops,  &c.,  whenever  it  suits  them,  in  winter  as  well  as  in  sum- 
mer. It  must  be  taken  into  consideration,  besides,  that  England  keeps  id 
North  /fmerira,  since  the  trgali/,  a  garrison  of  twelve  thousand  men,  which 
is  ne&rly  double  the  number  of  the  whole  regular  American  army,  while  in 
1S37  she  had  hardly  three  thousand  !  England  has  now  completed  such 
a  compact  and  powerful  organization  in  Canada,  that  she  can,  through  the 
means  of  her  ste  ..:n  navy  on  the  Lakes,  annoy  and  harass  the  American 
Union  on  a  frontier  extendinji  three  thousand  miles. 

But  what  ought  to  be  considered  the  most  dangerous  features  of  this 
new  position,  is  the  rapidity  wherewith  instructions  maybe  transmitted 
from  London  to  Montreal.  Celerity  in  war  movements  is  well  known 
to  be  the  mo«t  energetic  promoter  of  success,  and  the  British  Ministers 
might  now,  in  the  space  of  a  few  weeks,  organize  a  plan  of  operations 

*The«e  causes  will  be  explained  in  a  separate  article.  Tlie  general  purport  thcreot 
cill  be  to  five  an  ipiiiglit  into  the  fi.veign  policy  of  Mr.  Van  Buren. 


« 


with  thu  in i-alculal)lu  ucl vantage  of  being  ab!e  to  superintend  its  cxeca-, 
tion,  details,  nnd  progress,  almost  daily,  from  Downing  street,  in  London, 
through  expeditious  steamers  from  England  to  Halifax  ;  and  the  whole 
available  force  of  (ireat  Uritain  might  thus  he  brought  to  oct  wherever  it 
would  be  thought  to  be  the  most  etfective. 

The  Colonial  authorities  in  Canada  succeeded  lost  war,  with  limited 
means,  to  stir  up  against  the  Americans  some  of  the  Indian  tribes,  which 
waged  on  the  borders  a  war,of  extermination,  without  distinction  of 
oge  or  sex.  Now  that  we  can  appreciate  the  extent  and  elFiciency  of  the 
means  at  the  disposal  of  Knglund,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  exten- 
sion she  might  give  to  such  a  cruel  and  barbarous  warfare.  Well,  if 
England,  over  and  above  the  powerful  means  that  the  Ashburton  Treaty 
has  su|)plied  her  with,  was  to  succeed  besides  to  draw  Texas  under  her 
protection,  nnd  was  thereby,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  control  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  she  might,  it  appears  ol)vious,  stir  up  simultaneously  an  Indian 
war  all  along  the  extensive  Western  frontiers,  and  at  the  same  time,  u 
war  of  revolleil  slaves  at  the  South;  M'hich  war  of  all  others,  is  the  most 
dangerous  to  the  American  Confederacy.  To  break  asunder  ll;e  Hepub- 
lican  Union,  has  been  the  secret  aim  at  which  British  machinations  have 
been  directed  ever  since  1815.*  'J'hi.')  is  the  aim  she  had  in  view  when 
she  lavished  so  much  money  to  abolish  slavery  in  her  Colonies  on  the 
Coast  of  America. 

It  is  needless,  no  doubt,  to  enter  into  further  developments.  Every 
intelligent  reader  understands  now  the  reasons  why  the  Annexation  of 
Texas  has  become  so  popular.  'J'ho  Ashburton  Treaty  has  made  it  an 
event  of  sheer  necessity /or  the  prntecllon  of  the  American  Confederactf  ; 
so  much  so.  indeed,  that  many  individuals  in  the  Northern  States,  who 
at  first  opposed  annexation  on  account  of  honest  and  conscientious  scru- 
ples about  slavery,  admit,  now,  after  a  more  comprehensive  view  of  the 
subject,  the  urgency  of  immediate  annexation. 

But  many  people  will  probably  exclaim,  how  is  it  that  the  American 
Government  has  been  drawn  into  the  discreditable  cession  of  n  passage 
whereof  the  consequences  might  be  so  disastrous  .'  I  confine  myself  to- 
day to  prove  the  factf — the  following  remarks  will,  however,  ac- 
count for  the  silence  of  the  American  press.  The  fed  Attorney  of  Baring 
&  Co.  was  Secretary  of  State,  and  was  the  American  negotiator  of  the 
disgraceful  treaty.      President  TylerJ  was  so  situalsd  with  his  Whig 

•  Reasons  in  Bupport  of  the  above  assertion  will  be  found  in  an  article  hfireafter,  to 
be  publishe.i  under  the  head  of  "  Origin  of  Slavery  in  the  United  States,  and  the  most 
suitable  means  to  promote  its  gradual  abolition." 

t  The  original  causes  which  have  led  to  this  discreditable  ce.ssion,  may  be  traced  up 
to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  will  be  distinctly  developed  in  the  next 
article. 

t  In  justice  to  Mr  Tyler,  1  am  led  to  append  herewith  the  following  comment : 
Wnen  the  British  Ministers  found  that  General  Harrison  was  elected  President,  and 
that  Mr.  Webster  was  to  be  Secretary  of  State,  they  lost  no  time,  and  availed  them< 
selves  at  once  of  the  golden  opportunity,  by  appointing  at  once  a  plenipotentiary  to 
settle  the  Northeastern  lloundary  ;  they  knew  that  they  could  get  what  they  wanted 
by  sending  a  proper  man;  and,  therefore,  a  banker  came  over  to  this  countty,  with 
full  powers,  &c.  The  death  of  H''.:rison  had  like  to  spoil  the  comtemplated  arrange- 
ment, as  Mr.  Tyler,  in  his  inauguial,  assumed  a  tone  on  the  subject  of  our  foreign 
relations  very  different  from  that  taken  by  the  good-natured  Harrison  within  the  short 
space  of  0  Tionth  ;  and  Mr.  Webster  had  to  use  a  great  deal  of  management  to  get  the 


22 


Cabinet,  that  he  was  drawn  into  signing  it — over  two-thirds  of  both  the 
Whig  and  Democratic  Senators  were  equally  guilty  in  voting  for  its  rati- 
fication. Most  of  the  influential  presses  took  sides  in  its  favour,  some  of 
them  biased  by  their  political  leaders,  others  through  mere  corrupt  in- 
fluence.* Those  circumstances,  and  the  general  disgust  they  created, 
explain  the  sullen  silence  of  the  great  mass  of  the  community  on  that  in- 
famous Irealy. 

•    -■•  ' »  New  York,  December  Mth,  1845. 

The  feeling  of  disgust  whereto  the  French  brochure  attributes,  truly, 
the  silence  of  the  American  public  would  have  prevented  me  from  pub- 
lishing the  above  translation,  had  I  not  had,  at  the  present  time,  an  im- 
portant object  in  view.  The  motives  that  have  influenced  the  course  of 
Daniel  Webster,  are  understood  by  every  unprejudiced  mind,  and  it 
meets  the  reprobation  of  every  well-thinking  man — it  is,  therefore,  useless, 
to  cavil  about  it — but  what  I  want  to  expatiate  upon,  is,  the  course  of  '.he 
American  Senate. 

The  strictures  on  the  course  of  the  Senate  I  will  give  in  another  num- 
ber, in  which  [  will  quote  a  remaik  made  to  me  by  Mr.  King,  (Ambas- 
sador at  Paris,)  as  to  the  rcascns  which  induced  Southern  Senators  to 
vote  for  the  treaty.         '  T      ..  '  "  '  ' 


;f. 


WW,-'' 


Tho  article  underneath  was  published  in  the  JDaily  Globe  on  the  23d  of  December: 


-\.,.i. 


No.  IV. 


!».. 


New  York,  December  21,  lSi5. 

Will  there  lie  War  bctwueu.  the  United  States  aud  Great 

Bi'itainT  ?«.  ;;i<^.  -.;ir  ,^'>->i'i.i" 

Previous  to  summing  up  argument  on  this  exciting  question,  it  appears 

proper  to  set  forth  before  the  reader,  all  the  information  that  has  a  material 

consent  of  the  new  President.  Ths  disgrace  of  giving  up  to  Great  Britain  the  im- 
portant jiassaiie  she  was  coveting,  could  not  be  brooked  by  Mr.  Tyler  without  obtain- 
ing some  concession  that  might,  at  least,  seem  ei]uivalent.  Accordingly,  to  save  ap- 
pearances, the  navi;;atinn  ot  the  St.  John  river,  and  a  strip  of  land  in  Canada, 
were  conceded  to  the  United  States;  it  had  the  advantage,  besides,  of  giving  to  Mr. 
Webster  an  argument,  which  he  might  and  did  use  in  the  Senate,  in  addressing  those 
who  opposed  the  treaty :  "you  complain  that  wo  have  given  up  our  territory  ;  well. 
Great  Britain,  for  the  sake  of  compromise,  has  also,  on  her  side,  given  up  to  us  part  of 
her  territory,"  &c.;  and  to  this  day,  whenever  the  Ashburton  Treaty  is  held  up  as  a 
reproach  on  our  negotiator,  the  i)artisans  of  Mr.  Webster  will  not  fail  to  tell  you; 
"  Head  what  the  loyalists  of  Canada  say  concerning  the  treaty  ;  there  is  an  outcry  that 
the  British  Ministry  have  sacriliccd  the  honour  of  tho  country,  &c.  Such  way  of  rea- 
soning has  an  efTect  on  the  many  who  take  no  trouble  tn  form  an  opinion  for  them- 
selves, but  it  does  not  invalidate  the  fact — the  stubborn  fact — namely,  that  England, 
through  thatlreaty,  has  been  enabled  to  perfect  such  a  formidable  and  compact  an 
Crganization  as  to  change  altogether  the  former  relative  jjosition  of  the  two  countries, 
while  the  advantages  ■fi'hich  have  accrued  to  the  United  States  from  that  treaty,  are, 
'  in  comparison,  entirely  insigniticant.     See  note  3  of  article  No.  8. 

•I  have  been  told,  as  a  positive  fact,  by  a  person  well  situated  to  know  it,  that  a 
certain  editor  in  this  city  (whose  paper  has  a  great  circulation)  received  from  a  Bri- 
tish fuuctioniiry,  now  in  Canada,  five  hundred  dollars  as  a  douceur,  to  influence  his 
editorials  on  tho  subject  of  the  Northeastern  Boundary. 


93 


f  December: 


bearing  thereupon  ;  last  Wednesday,  I  produced  in  the  Daily  Globe,  the 
translation  of  a  remarkable  article  on  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  which  was 
fi'-st  published  in  Paris  in  a  daily  paper  called  La  Rcforvie  ;  this  has  been 
done  with  a  view  of  setting  forth  in  a  strong  light  the  course  of  the 
Senate  concerning  their  ratification  of  that  disgraceful  treaty  :  it  is  not  a 
pleasing  task  to  expose  publicly  the  unsound  views  and  principles  which 
influenced  the  votes  of  over  two-thirds  of  our  Senators,  but  it  becomes 
necessary  to  do  so  at  the  present  juncture  of  our  national  afliiirs,  when 
a  similar  course  might  be  attended  with  siill  worse  result. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  lately  sent  to  the  world  a  mes- 
sage, wherein  he  has  expressed  opinions  and  recommendations  on  the 
subject  of  our  foreign  relations,  which  emphatically  embody  the  popular 
feeling  of  the  Republic.  The  House  of  Representatives,  will,  no  doubt, 
sustain  the  President  in  the  stand  he  has  taken  in  maintaining  our  claim 
on  the  Oregon  territory,  as  well  as  in  opposing  any  attempt  at  Coloni- 
zation on  this  continent  by  European  powers;  but  the  organs  of  British 
interests  appear  to  be  confident  tbat  a  majority  of  Senators  will  refuse 
their  consent  to  such  measures,  that  might  give  oiFence  to  Great  Britain. 
If  such  is  to  be  the  course  of  the  Senate,  then,  indeed,  apprehensions  of 
war  ir.ight  spring  up  therefrom. 

The  elaborate  analysis  of  the  elements  of  the  power  of  Great  Britain, 
which  is  the  subject  of  No.  1  of  this  pamphlet,  demonstrates,  I  Irust,  con- 
clusively, that  England,  notwithstanding  her  immense    means  of  aggres- 
sion, has  never  been  in  such  a  precarious  siliiationas  she  is  now,  to  prose- 
cute a  ^ro/rac/ed  maritime  war.     But  if  the  British   Ministers  perceive 
that  our  councils  are  distracted — if,  moreover,  they  acquired  the  convic- 
tion that  they  might  enforce  their  terms  by   striking  a   bloM',   that  blow 
\t  ould  be  struck   instantly,  and  without  hesitation,  entirely  regardless  of 
"  our  common  Anglo-Saxon  origin,"  of  kindred  lies,  and  of  all  the  pathos 
extialed  by  those  who  profess  a  holy  liorrour  of  Mar ;  which  fustian,  if  it 
was  to  influence  our  counsels,  would  have  the  effect  of  producing  that  very 
war  which  it  is  meant  to  deprecate.     1  do  not  apprehend,  however,  that 
the  British  Ministers  will  have  any  such  conviction  ;  they  are  fully  aware 
of  their  weak  points,  and  they  appreciate  the  imminent  risk  they  might 
incur,  with  much  greater  accuracy  than  it  is  generally  done  on  this  side 
the  Atlantic.     Their  apprehens-on  of  the  consequences  of  a  war  with  the 
United  States,  is   a  sure  guarantee  that  peace  will  be  unbroken  on  the 
part  of  England.     It  is,  nevertheless,  very  important,  that  the  measures 
proposed  by  the  President  should  be  promptly  and  cordially  supported  by 
the  Senate.     The  sooner  Great  Britain  is  convinced  that  we  will  present 
an  undivided  front,  the  sooner  all  appearances  of  war  will  vanish  ;  and 
our  Senators  should  be  careful  to  eschew,  at  this  present  juncture,  the 
unsound  views  and  principles  which  influenced  the  vote  of  many  Senators 
on  the  Ashburton  Treaty.     I  will  proceed,  now,  to  expound  the  course 
of  the  Senate  on  their  ratiflcation  of  said  treaty. 

The  very  day  that  I  published  in  Paris  the  French  brochure  thut  I  have 
partly  translated,  I  took  it  to  Mr.  King,  the  American  Ambassador.  I 
knew  he  was  in  the  Senate  at  the  time  the  Ashburton  Treaty  was  under 
discussion,  but,  was  doubtful,  as  to  what  had  been  his  vote  for  the  rati- 
fication thereof;  being  particularly  desirous  to  ascertain  his  opinion,  1 
rtwd  to  him  the  whole  of  the  article  on  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  and  laid 


24 


|)eculiar  emphasis  on  the  following  sentence — "  The  Whig  and  Democra- 
tic Senators  were  equally  guilty  in  voting  for  its  ratification."  Mr.  King, 
with  a  degree  of  candour,  highly  honourable  to  him,  made,  verbatim,  the 
following  remarks — "  I  voted  for  the  Treaty,  and  I  must  say,  /  am  very 
■sorry  for  it. ^^  A  short  pause  followed,  and  then  he  added — "Massa- 
chusetts and  Maine,  which  were  most  interested,  gave  their  consent ;" 
the  last  wonis  of  the  .sentence  1  do  not  recollect  distinctly,  but  I  recollect 
well  the  purport  thereof,  which  was,  that  the  Southern  Senators  con- 
sidered the  Northeastern  Boundary  a  sectioqal  question,  &c.*  The  con- 
sent of  Massachusetts  and  Maine  was  thus  considered,  it  appears,  hy 
many  Senators,  of  sufficient  weight  in  itself  to  induce  them  to  give  their 
votes  in  favourof  a  treaty  v^hich  affected,  eminently,  vital  interests  to  the 
whole  of  the  Union.  As  to  the  consent  of  Massachusetts,  I  will  merely 
remark,  that  the  men  who  held,  and  hold  now,  the  political  power  of  that 
State,  were  and  are  exceedingly  anxious  at  all  times  to  do  every  thing 
that  may  be  agreeable  to  their  friend  John  Bull — but  how  was  the  con- 
sent of  JVIame  obtained  ?  The  noble-minded  Fairfield,  who  is  now  in 
the  Senate,might  tell  his  associates  all  the  particulars  which  preceded  and 
influenced  that  consent.  He  might  disclose  to  them  that  Mr.  Van  Buren 
wheedled  him  to  withdraw  his  volunteers  from  the  'vantage  ground  they 
had  gained  over  the  Briti.'sh — he  might  whisper  to  them,  that  the  promi- 
ses of  the  ex-President,  as  f  cause  the  disputed  territory  to  be  respected 
by  the  British,  proved  to  be  .allacious — he  might  assert,  that  both  Houses 
of  Congress,  with  great  unanimity,, had  voted  and  delegated  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive, ample  means  and  power  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  our  clear 
and  unquestionable  rights,  and  that  said  Executive  basely  betrayed  them. 
Governor  Fairfield  might  declare,  that  the  State  of  Maine  had  incurred  a 
debt  of  five  to  SIX  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  sustain  national  claims, 
which  he  found  were  in  progress  of  being  sacrificed  by  the  General 
Government.  He  might  divulge,  that  the  American  negotiator  offered 
to  buy  the  consent  of  the  authorities  of  Maine,  by  paying  to  tliem,  out  of 
the  Tftasury  of  the  Union,  the  amount  of  expenses  they  had  so  promptly 
incurred,  nobly  actuated  by  a  keen  sense  of  national  patriotism.  Fi- 
nally, he  might  confess  tha*  the  commissioners  and  authorities  cl"  Maine 
made  up  their  minds  to  accept  the  6ar(/am  that  was  pressed  upon  them, 
only  when  they  found  they  had  no  other  chance  to  be  assisted  by  the 
General  Government.  Such  was  the  way  that  iheconsentof  Maine  was 
obtained,  and  the  Senators  who  voted  for  the  treaty  must  have  been 
aware  of  all  the  facts  above  detailed.  I  do  not  dcubt  that  many  gave 
their  votes  with  reluctance,  and  that  they  did  so  under  the  mistaken  ap- 
prehension that  war  would  have  been  the  result  of  the  rejection  of  the 
treaty  ;  but  those  who  gave  their  votes  under  the  plea  that  the  consent 
of  Aiassachusetts  and  Maine  was  of  sufficient  weight  to  give  up  a  pas- 
sage whereof  the  consequences  may  be  so  disastrous  to  the  whole  Con- 
federacy, acted  under  a  principle  derogatory  to  the  plain  duty  of  the  Sena- 
tor;  specially  in  his  acts  as  part  of  the  Executive  power  of  the  United 
States,  he  ought,  when  deliberating  in  that  capacity,  to  divest  himself 
from  all  sectional  feeling,  and  give  his  vote  with  a  sole  view  of  its  being 
conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  Union. 


*  Mr.  King  admitted,  in  terms  of  higl)  praise,  tlie  correctnest  of  the  views  express- 
ed in  the  French  brochure:  ind  he  told  ine  the  next  time  I  saw  him,  that  he  had 
•ent  it  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  bccrctarv  of  .State, 


IT 


85 

Although  disgust  has  prevented  the  people  oi"  the  United  States  from 
making  any  public  demonstration  against  the  course  of  the  Senate  on  the 
Ashburton  Treaty,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  is  forgotten  ;  a  proper 
tone  of  national  feeling  is  gaining  ground,  and  is  penetrating  the  masses 
throughout  the  country;  and  those  Senators  who  may  take  upon  them- 
selves to  vote  according  to  sectional  feeling  on  the  Oregon  resolutions, 
and  other  questions,  which  will  sho.tly  be  under  debate,  will  find  out, 
in  tine,  the  truth  of  my  assertion. 

The  arrival  of  the  Acadia  furnishes  us  with  extracts  from  various  in- 
fluential organs  of  the  British  Aristocracy,  extolling  to  the  skies  a  late 
speech  of  Daniel  Webster,  recommending  the  giving  up  of  all  claims  ou 
the  Oregon  territory,  &c.,  and  they  agree  in  manifesting  the  pleasure  it 
would  gi>e  them  to  see  "the  great  expounder"  appointed  as  negotiator 
for  the  Northwestern  Boundary.  No  wonder  they  should  like  such  a 
negotiator  ;  they  have  had  already  a  foretaste  of  his  accommodating  spirit, 
in  the  Ashburton  Treaty ;  many  of  those  influential  presses,  particularly 
the  Times,  intimate  views  which  perfectly  coincide  with  those  already 
expressed  in  the  Whig  papers  in  this  city :  they  hope  that  the  Senate 
will  check  the  popular  feeling,  and  that  Mr.  Calhoun  will  interpose  his 
influence  in  order  that  *'  masterly  inactivity"  might  prevail.  At  the 
time  Mr.  Calhoun  recommended  "masterly  inactivity,"  it  might  have 
been  a  wise  measure ;  but  the  time  has  passed  by,  and  Mr.  Calhoun  is 
no  doubt  aware  of  it-  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  Secretary  of  State,  sustained  our 
claims  on  the  whole  of  Oregon  with  transcendent  ability  ;*  but  Mr.  Cal- 
houn has  voted  for  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  and  he  is  suspected  of  being 
rather  sectional  in  his  views.  Some  people  insinuate  that  his  zeal  for 
maintaining  our  claims  on  Oregon  will  not  equal  that  which  he  displayed 
for  efl'ecting  Texas  annexation ;  I  hope  that  this  insinuation  will  prove 
entirely  groundless. 

An  attentive  reading  of  the  articles  published  in  the  Daily  Globe  on  the 
15th  and  26th  ult.,  and  6th  inst.,  on  the  question  "  Will  there  be  War," 
&c.,  will  carry  with  it  a  conviction  that  the  passage,  by  Congress,  of  the 
Oregon  resolutions,  tdW  «o/ prorfuce  war;  but  an  emergency  may  arise 
in  another  quarter,  that  might  be,  within  two  or  three  years,  a  cer- 
tain cause  of  hostilities  ;  the  explication  of  that  emergency  will  be  the 
subject  of  a  separate  article. 


No.  V. 

New  York,  December  24tli,  1815. 

Will  there  be  War  betvireen  the  United  States  and  Great 

Britain  I 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Globe  : 

In  your  paper  of  yesterday  I  made  this  remark,  that  an  attentive  peru- 
sal of  the  series  of  articles  you  have  published  for  me,  ou  the  question 
"  Will  there  be  War  ?"  would  carry  with  it  a  conviction  that  the  pas- 
sage, by  Congress,  of  the  Oregon  resolutions,  will  not  produce  war,  but 

*  It  will  be  recollected  that  Mr.  Webster,  in  a  vehement  speech,  maintained  in  Con- 
g.-ess  that  our  claim  on  the  whole  Maine  territory  was  unciuestionable,  and  that  we 
orgl;t  to  take  possession  of  the  disputed  territory  on  the  -Ith  of  July.  1  do  not  mean  by 


26 

that,  however,  an  eincrycnci/  may  arise   from  another  quarter,  Tfhicb 
might  be,  within  two  or  three  years,  a  positive  cause  of  hostilities. 

England  has,  for  some  time  past,  cast  a  wistful  eye  on  California :  it 
is  much  more  important  to  her  views  of  aggrandizement  than  would  be 
that  part  of  Oregon  which  is  soutn  of  the  Columbia  river.  Possibly  a 
treaty  has  already  been  concluded  with  Mexico  for  the  cession  to  Great 
Britain  of  that  fine  country.  Should  that  be  the  case,  an  English  fleet 
is  already  more  than  halfway  to  the  Pacific,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
immediate  possession  thereof.  If  such  be  the  course  of  events,  no  doubt 
but  that  considerable  trepidation  has  been  felt  by  the  British  Aristocracy, 
preTious  to  making  up  their  minds  to  take  such  a  decisive  step — they  are 
aware  that  the  dismemberment  of  the  British  empire  is  at  stake,  if  a  pro- 
tracted war  takes  place ;  but  they  know,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
federate  form  of  this  government  is  a  great  impediment  to  a  foreign  war, 
which  requires  principally  celerity  and  decision;  moreover,  the  appre- 
hension that  the  United  States  might  purchase  California,  may  have 
spurred  them  to  act  before  having  proper  time  to  ponder  well  the  conse- 
quences, and  possibly  they  may  deceive  themselves  into  the  belief  that 
prompt  action,  and  actual  ,jossession  by  treaty,  would  distract  the  coun- 
cils of  the  United  States,  and  would  thereby  prevent  any  serious  oppo- 
sition. 

Taking  the  above  premises  as  granted,  the  British  Ministers  would,  no 
doubt,  send  all  their  available  force  in  Canada  and  on  the  Coast  of  Ame- 
rica, for  the  purpose  of  watching  our  movements,  and  of  fomenting  the 
spirit  of  party,  by  exciting  the  zeal  of  the  numerous  partizans  of  British 
interests  throughout  the  country.  Such  a  course,  a  few  years  ago, 
might  have  proved  successful  to  prevent  hostilities  from  the  United 
States,  but  1  make  bold  to  say,  that  it  would  nov)  prove  a  failure  ;  ex- 
tensive preparations  would  be  made  in  the  United  States — Great  Britain 
would  soon  find  that  we  would  be  in  earnest  in  preparing  for  war  ;  and 
then  the  question  arises,  whether  she  would  not,  at  once,  commence  hos- 
tilities ;  her  stake  is  so  great  that  she  might  hesitate  for  a  length  of  time, 
but  war  would  be  only  delayed  thereby,  for  the  United  States,  acting  con- 
formably to  what  was  done  in  1812,  would  coolly  and  deliberately  de- 
clare it,  as  soon  as  the  national  feeling  would  become  united  on  its  neces- 
sity, which  might  make  two  or  three  years. 

The  subject  of  the  next  article  will  be  a  disquisition  on  the  probable 
effect  of  the  President's  Message  in  Europe. 


f|i 


No.  VI. 

'       ■       New  York,  December  2'Jlh,  1845. 

Will  there  be  War  between  tlie  United  States  and  Great 

Britain  1 

We  have  novr  reports  from  nearly  all  parts  of  the  United  States  as  to 
the  effect  produced  by  the  Message  of  the  President.  An  almost  univer- 
sal burst  of  popular  approbation  haj  responded  to  the  clearness  of  its 

this  allusion,  to  insinuate  that  Mr.  Calhoun  might  back  out  in  the  someway  that  Mr. 
Webster  did :  I  mean  to  say,  that  there  is  a  ditference  between  an  able  advocacy  of  a 
claim,  and  an  energetic  zeal  to  enforce  it. 


sri 


27 


ter,  which 
ities. 

lifornia:  it 
[1  would  be 
Possibly  a 
on  to  Great 
nglish  fleet 
!  of  taking 

no  doubt 
ristocracy, 

-they  are 

e,  if  a  pro- 

d,  that  the 

ireign  war, 

the  appre- 

may  have 

the  conse- 

belief  that 

:t  the  coun- 

rious  oppo- 

I  would,  no 
st  of  Ame- 
nenting  the 
8  of  British 
years  ago, 
the  United 
iilure ;  ex- 
reat  Britain 
r  war  ;  and 
imence  hos- 
5th  of  time, 
acting  con- 
)erately  de- 
D  its  neces- 

le  probable 


i'Ah,  1845. 
Id  Great 

States  as  to 
ost  univer- 
rness  of  its 

vay  that  Mr. 
dvocacy  of  a 


exposition,  to  the  true  American  spirit  and  patriotism  which  it  displays 
throughout,  and  to  the  soundness  of  the  principles  laid  down  therein  as  a 
basis  for  our  foreign  and  national  policy.  It  has  silenced, /or  a  tchile,  the 
opponents  of  the  Administration,  and  many  of  them  have  even  gone  so 
far  as  to  express  themselves  satisfied  with  confiding  the  care  of  our 
foreign  relations  to  the  prudence  of  an  Executive,  whom  only  a  few 
weeks  ago  they  were  villifying  at  a  great  rate,  applying  to  him  such  epi- 
thets as  "rabid,"  "  unprincipeld,"  &c. 

My  purpose,  in  introducing  to-day  the  subject  of  the  President's  Mes- 
sage, is  to  investigate  its  probable  efiect  in  Europe.  Will  it  be  received 
with  the  same  manifestation  of  hostile  feelings  as  was  the  Inaugural .' 
The  solving  of  this  question  will  require  some  preliminary  remarks. 

On  the  12th  of  April  last,  1  published  in  La  Refonne,  one  of  the  daily 
Parisian  papers,  an  article  *  headed,  "  Threats  of  the  British  Aristocracy 
on  the  subject  of  Oregon,"-  wherein  1  asserted  that  the  warlike  denuncia- 
tion that  was  made  on  the  4th  of  the  same  month  inthe  British  Parliament, 
by  both  shades  of  the  Aristocracy,  on  account,  as  was  pretended,  of  the 
language  of  President  Polk  in  his  Inaugural,  on  the  subject  of  Oregon, 
was  actually  nothing  else  than  a  theatrical  demonstration,  which  had 
been  concerted  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  the  American  Govern- 
ment— of  fomenting  the  spirit  of  party  throughout  the  Union,  being  in- 
tended, particularly,  for  insulating  the  President  from  the  support  of 
the  people.  We  have  now  a  Message  from  Mr.  Polk,  taking  stronger 
ground  than  the  Inaugural  on  the  subject  of  Oregon,  (as  I  will  show  in 
its  proper  place  when  reviewing  the  Message,)  asserting,  besides,  princi- 
ples of  international  law  which  will  be  most  galling  to  the  British  Aris- 
tocracy, and  to  their  vassals,  Messrs.  Guizot  &  Co.  If  the  language  of 
the  President  on  the  subject  of  Oregon,  in  his  Inaugural,  had  been  the  real 
cause  of  the  warlike  demonstration  which  took  place  last  April,  we 
ought,  of  course,  to  expect  a  complete  outbreak.  Well,  I  venture  to  as- 
sert, beforehand,  that  the  tone  of  the  British  Parliament  will  be,  on  the 
contrary,  more  subdued,"f  and  if  that  be  the  case,  it  will  be  a  convincing 
proof  that  the  warlike  demonstration  of  last  April  was  a  mere  abortive 
attempt  to  bully  us  out  of  our  rights. 

The  portion  of  the  President's  Message  which  alludes  to  France,  hav- 
ing been  the  subject  of  various  comments,  I  transcribe  it  entire  under- 
neath, as  I  mean  to  introduce  some  of  those  comments  as  well  as  my  own 
remarks  thereon : 

"  Even  France — the  country  which  had  been  our  ancient  ally — the 
country  which  has  a  common  interest  with  us  in  maintaining  the  freedom 
of  the  seas — the  country  which,  by  the  session  of  Louisiana,  first  opened 
to  us  access  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — the  country  with  which  we  have 
been  every  year  drawing  more  closely  the  bonds  of  successful  commerce 
— most  unexpectedly,  and  to  our  unfeigned  regret,  took  part  in  an  effort 
to  prevent  annexation,  and  to  impose  on  Texas,  as  a  condition  of  the  re- 
cognition of  her  independence  by  Mexico,  that  she  would  never  join  her- 
self to  the  United  States.  We  may  rejoice  that  the  tranquil  and  perva- 
ding influence  of  the  American  principle  of  self-government  was  suffi- 

*  The  next  number  of  this  series  of  articles  will  contain  a  translation  thereof, 
t  Unless,  peradventure,  the  emergency  I  have  alluded  to  in  the  last  article,  (that  of 
the  British  gettinK  possession  of  California.)  was  to  prove  correct. 


cient  to  tlefeal  the  purposes  of  British  and  French  interference,  and  that 
the  almost  unanimous  voice  of  the  people  of  Texas  has  given  to  that  in- 
terference a  peaceful  and  effective  rebuke.  From  this  example,  Euro- 
pean governments  may  learn  how  vain  diplomatic  arts  and  intrigues 
must  ever  prove  upon  this  continent,  against  that  system  of  self-govern- 
ment which  seems  natural  to  our  soil,  and  which  will  ever  resist  foreign 
interference." 

General  Cass,  in  a  late  speech  in  the  Senate,  observed  with  ♦ruth,  that 
the  above  intimation  is  a  well-deserved  rebuke  to  the  French  Govern- 
ment for  their  intrigues  in  Texas  and  in  Mexico  ;  thereupon,  the  French 
organ  of  M.  Guizot,  in  this  city,  came  oui  with  foul  abuse  on  the  Gene- 
ral;  calls  him  a  flatterer  and  a  sycophant;  because,  forsooth,  the  Senator 
from  Michigan,  when  in  France,  wrote  a  book  praising  Louis  Philippe ! 
It  is  true  that  General  Cass  wrote  such  a  book,  but  what  does  that 
prove?  It  proves  that  the  General,  like  many  other  eminent  men,  has 
been  for  some  time  hood-winked  by  the  wiles  and  duplicity  of  the  citizen 
King  ;  the  noble  and  patriotic  Lafayette  praised  also  Louis  Philippe ;  he 
died  shortly  afterwards,  and  his  memoirs,  published  by  his  family,  ex- 
hibit in  words  of  truth,  how  the  candid  and  venerable  patriot  was  jilted 
by  the  trickish  son  of  Philippe  Egalite — how  his  heart  was  ulcerated,  and 
how  his  last  hours  were  embittered  by  the  sad  conviction  that  he  had, 
unsuspectingly,  delivered  over  the  destinies  of  his  beloved  country  into 
the  hands  of  a  heartless  hypocrite  and  a  rapacious  despot. 

The  liberal  and  open-hearted  Lafitte  not  only  praised  Louis  Philippe, 
but  actually  made  him  a  King.  Well,  a  few  years  afterwards,  the  unde- 
ceived and  repentant  Lafitte,  from  the  tribune  of  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties, publicly,  before  the  whole  world,  asked  forgiveness  "  to  God  and 
inan  to  have  been  the  means  of  placing  Louis  Philippe  on  the  throne  of 
France."  No  doubt  that  General  Cass  repents,  likewise,  to  have  deceived 
his  countrymen  as  to  the  true  character  of  Louis  Philippe  ;  great  many 
of  them  labor,  as  yet,  under  the  delusion  he  has  created,  and  it  is  his  duty 
to  act  like  Lafitte,  and  to  make  a  public  recantation. 

The  French  organ  I  have  before  alluded  to,  descants  as  follows  on  that 
portion  of  the  Message  which  alludes  to  France  : 

*'  The  French  Government  will  be  deeply  wounded  by  the  accusation 
of  treason  (treachery)  and  intrigue,  (the  word  is  there  at  full  length,) 
openly  cast  upon  it  from  the  Presidential  Chair.  And,  let  us  say  it,  the 
French  Cabinet  will  not  be  wounded  without  reason.  Whether  the 
policy  it  adopted  on  the  Texan  question  were  good  or  bad,  it  owes  no 
account  of  it  other  than  to  its  own  country  and  its  own  conscience,  and 
it  belongs  not  to  any  foreign  Government  to  constitute  itself  the  Judge 
thereof.  The  accusation  preferred  by  Mr.  Polk  against  the  policy  of  M. 
Guizot  will  so  much  the  more  irritate  the  latter,  as  it  will  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  opposition  in  France  a  sharp  weapon,  the  left  of  the  Chamber 
will  scourge  unmercifully  with  the  policy  of  the  Ministry.  But  M.  Gui- 
zot is  not  a  patient  victim,  and  when  he  turns  upon  his  adversaries,  his 
return  blow  usually  brings  one  or  more  of  them  to  the  ground.  We  are 
much  deceived,  or  Mr.  Polk  will  have  his  share  in  these  vigorous 
reprisals." 

According  to  the  doctrine  thus  laid  down  by  the  French  editor,  it  mat- 
ters not  what  low  intrigues   the  French  Government  may  have  been 


:e,  and  that 


99 

guilty  of,  to  the  injury  of  the  United  States.  "  It  belongs  not,"  says  he, 
"  to  any  foreign  government  to  constitute  itself  the  judge  thereof;"  and 
accordingly  Mr.  Polk,  for  having  done  so,  is  threatened  with  "  vigorous 
reprisals"  fromM.  (jiuizot, 

The  French  paper  tells  us  that  "  the  return  blow  of  M.  Guizot  leaves 
one  or  more  of  his  adversaries  on  the  gromuV — this  sentence  will  not  be 
generally  understood  ;  it  requires  explanation  :  nearly  half  of  the  whole 
number  of  the  deputies  of  France  are  salaried  functionaries,  and  the  half 
of  the  remainder  are  striving  to  get  situations  for  themselves  or  their  rela- 
tives ;  so,  when  it  is  said  that  M.  Guizot  leaves  his  adversaries  on  (he 
ground,  it  means  that  he  takes  from  them  the  pap  they  receive  from  the 
Treasury,*  and  leaves  them,  on  the  ground,  to  shift  for  themselves. 

The  above  strange  reasoning  of  M.  Guizot's  organ,  has  thus  been  com- 
mented upon  by  the  Morning  News :  "  It  is  very  possible  that  Sir  Robert 
Peel  may  feel  a  little  annoyed,  and  Monsieur  Guizot  deeply  wounded, 
when,  to  the  mortification  of  the  failure — the  unmitigated  and  humilia- 
ting failure — of  all  those  abortive  labors  of  rnonarchial  diplomacy,  i» 
added  the  unpleasant  necessity  of  hearing  them  thus  coolly  rebuked.''^ 
And  further  :  "  The  President  has  used  a  moderation  of  expression  due 
much  more  to  our  own  self-respect  than  to  M.  Guizot's  deserts  ;  and  if 
the  term  "  intrigue"  had  been  directly  applied  to  his  course,  (which  has 
not  been  done,)  and  with  it  that  of  "  duplicity"  added  to  boot,  the 
French  Premier,  might,  perhaps,  have  indeed  reddened  with  anger  ;  but 
full  half  of  the  blush  would  have  been  due  to  conscious  shame  and 
detected  disgrace.'''' 

The  French  paper,  however,  has  not  been  left  alone  to  sustain  the 
cause  of  M.  Guizot ;  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  has  the  following  re- 
mark :  '*  It  was  indecorous  to  read  alecture  to  the  French  Government." 
And  further  :  "  It  was  impolitic,  at  a  moment  when  it  was  important 
not  to  lose  French  sympathies." 

Now,  if  the  Whig  paper  just  now  quoted  be  in  earnest  in  the  above 
remark,  it  laboured  under  a  great  mis  .ake ;  the  French  Government  and 
the  French  People  are  two  very  different  things,  and  the  event  will  prove 
it.  I  venture  to  assert  that  the  sympathies  of  the  French  People  will  be 
more  and  more  in  our  favour,  in  proportion  as  we  detect  and  rebuke  openly 
the  crooked  policy  of  M.  Guizot,  and  his  notorious  subserviency  to 
British  interests.  Louis  Philippe  and  his  ministry  hate  heartily  our 
Democratic  Institutions :  they  use  all  the  means  in  their  power  to  under- 
mine them  ;  the  Journal  de  Debats,  and  all  the  papers  under  their  in- 
fluence, are  daily  traducing  the  American  character,  and  vilifying  our 
form  of  government.  The  most  proper  way  to  retaliate,  is  to  let 
them  understand  that  we  are  aware  of  their  views  and  of  their  trickery. 
They  dare  not  show  their  anger  ;  Louis  Philippe  is  fully  aware  that  a 
war  with  the  United  States,  he  acting  therein  as  the  vassal  of  England, 
would  seal   his  fate  ^  as   a    sovereign.     Let   the  press  of  this  country 

*The  threat  of  instant  removal  from  office  held,  like  the  sword  of  Damocles,  over 
the  French  Deputies,  is  the  principal  cause  of  the  support  which  is  given  tothe  most 
unpopular  Minister  that  France  ever  had  ;  the  French  Ministerial  papers,  in  the  at- 
tempt to  humbug  the  public,  attribute  that  support  to  his  eloquence ;  if  Louis  Phi- 
lippe was  to  withdraw  his  countenance  from  his  Minister,  the  eloquence  of  M.  Guizot. 
»vould  not  avail  him  twenty-four  hours. 


[fill 
ii 


80 

retaliate  vigorously  to  the  recrimiaations  of  the  French  ministerial  organs, 
and  they  will  soon  lower  their  tone. 

On  the  whole,  I  sum  up  the  argument  as  follows:  The  rebuke  of  Mr. 
Polk  will  have  a  salutary  influence  in  France,  and  the  effect  of  the  Mes- 
sage will  be,  to  increase  in  our  favour  the  sympathies  of  the  French  People, 


-.   No.  vn.  ,  „,;/,,..„,„..;: . 

New  York,  December  Slat,  1845. 

Will  tltere  be  War  betinreen  tlie  United  States  and  Great 

Britain  1 

To  the  Editor  ojtlie  Globe: 

I  began  to  prepare  some  comments  on  the  following  translation,  where- 
to allusion  is  made  in  my  last  communication,  but  the  Parisian  article 
itself  is  rather  lengthy,  and,  with  the  addition  of  those  comments,  it  would 
encroach  too  much  on  your  columns.  Those  comments,  as  well  as  the 
further  investigation  of  the  probable  effect  in  Europe  of  the  President's 
Message,  will  be  the  subject  of  another  number. 

Paris,  April  9th,  1845. 
Threats  of  the  Brltiali  Airlitocracy  on  the  Subject  of  Oregon. 

The  inaugural  speech  of  President  Polk  has  produced  an  explosion  of 
high  wrought  up  feelings  in  the  British  Parliament:  the  sullen  and  con- 
centrated anger  which  I  alluded  to  a  few  days  ago,*  has  at  last  exploded 
— the  Ministers,  and  several  of  the  leading  members  of  both  shades  of  the 
Aristocracy,  have  matured  their  parts,  and  after  six  days  of  preparation 
have  enacted  a  grand  theatrical  denunciation. 

President  Polk  has  taken  the  liberty,  in  addressing  the  American  peo- 
ple, to  say  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  title  of  the  United  States  on  the  Oregon 
Territory  was  "  clear  and  unquestionable,"  and  that  he  would  maintain 
it  by  all  constitutional  means,  with  this  restriction,  "  that  every  obli- 
gation imposed  by  treaty  or  conventional  stipulation  should  be  sacredly 
respected." 

The  British  Ministry  pretend,  on  their  side,  that  the  rights  of  Great 
Britain  on  the  same  territory  are  "  clear  and  unquestionable,"  and  that 
«'  they  ore  ready  to  maintain  them  at  all  hazards. ^^ 

In  contrasting  thus  the  identical  terms  of  the  two  declarations,  there 
is  nodiflSculty  to  perceive  on  which  side  is  the  blustering. 

If  the  British  Ministers  are  convinced  that  the  claims  of  England  are 
"  unquestionable,"  no  one  can  object  at  their  saying  so  ;  but  there  is  no 
need  of  swaggering  on  the  subject  of  a  question  wherein  the  opinion  of 
the  President  can  have  no  hostile  effect  for  a  considerable  space  of  time. 
What  can,  then,  be  the  reason  of  the  concerted  understanding  of  the  organs 
of  the  two  shades  of  the  Aristocracy  in  threatening  the  United  States  ? 
To  burn  down  their  towns — to  stir  up  a  war  of  revolted  slaves — to  sup- 
ply the  Mexicans  with  ships  and  sailors,  to  enable  them  thereby  to  fit 
out  privateers  against  American  commerce .' 

*  On  the  2d  of  April  I  published  an  article  in  a  Parisian  daily  paper,  with  com- 
ments on  the  Inaugural  of  Mr.  Polk,  remarking,  that  it  had  been  received  in  England 
with  «u;/e»  anger,  &c. 


Mi 


8! 


The  language  of  the  President  on  the  subject  of  Oregon  is  not  of  that 
pressing  importance  that  will  warrant  such  a  sudden  and  violent  denun- 
ciation. There  arc  several  causes  that  the  Aristocracy  does  not  wish  to 
divulge,  which  has  provoked  it — they  are  the  following:  The  ascen- 
dency that  the  Democratic  party  has  regained  in  the  United  States ;  the 
firm  and  resolute  tone  wherewith  the  President  has  identified  himself 
with  the  views  and  the  principles  of  that  party ;  the  mortification  felt 
by  the  British  IVlinisters,  in  finding  that  the  intrigues  of  their  agents,  in 
Texas  and  in  Mexico,  have  been  detected  and  derided  at.  Finally,  the 
vote  of  the  last  Congress  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  which,  confidently, 
they  did  not  expect  to  take  place.  Those  are  the  true  causes  of  the  irri- 
tation and  of  the  threats  of  the  British  Aristocracy  ;  the  obvious  aim  of 
the  British  Ministers  in  getting  up  with  so  much  eclat  a  warlike  demon- 
stration in  Parliament,  is  to  insulate  the  new  President.  The  English 
Aristocracy  accuse  Mr.  Polk,  to  court  popular  passions ;  and  it  is  them, 
on  the  contrary,  who,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  exert  all  their  influence 
to  excite  the  feelings  of  the  powerful  British  interests  which  exist  in 
the  United  States — for  the  purpose  of  denouncing  the  opinion  of  the 
President  as  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war  ;  ana,  in  order  to  prove  to 
the  American  people  thttt  Parliament  are  unanimous  to  sustain  the  Minis- 
try and  the  Press  in  their  denunciation,  and  in  the  threats  that  escort  it, 
they  have  delayed  one  day,  for  that  express  intent,  the  departure  of  the 
mail  steamer  for  Boston.  But  the  Americans  know  that  the  support  of 
Parliament  has  never  failed  to  the  Aristocracy,  in  all  its  aggressive  wars. 
Lord  North  had  for  him  Parliament  and  the  Press,  to  wage  war  in 
America  in  1776.     What  has  been  the  result  ? 

I  have,  I  trust,  conclusively  demonstrated  in  former  communications 
that  England,  notwithstanding  her  immense  means  of  aggression,  is  in  a 
most  precarious  situation  to  wage  a  protracted  maritime  war.  Pretexts 
are  not  wanted  to  pick  up  a  quarrel  with  the  United  States — she  might 
easily  find  some,  if  it  suited  her — it  is  the  apprehension  of  the  conse- 
quences that  makes  her  hold  back ;  and  I  assert,  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  language  of  the  British  Ministry,  that  it  will  not  go  to  war  unless 
it  expects  intestine  division  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  President  Polk  will  not  be  intimidated  by  the 
warlike  demonstration  of  the  British  Aristocracy,  and  that  he  will  evince 
the  sincerity  of  his  opinion,  as  to  the  claims  of  the  United  States  on  the 
Oregon  Territory,  by  refusing  to  negotiate  on  any  other  basis  than  what 
are  deducible  from  the  terms  of  his  Inaugural  Speech. 

The  course  which  Congress  ought  to  follow  is  clear  enough.  It  is  in- 
dicated in  the  resolutions  which  have  been  passed  in  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, but  not  acted  upon  by  the  Senate.  The  next  Congress, 
will,  no  doubt,  pass  resolutions  of  the  same  intent,  and  the  effect  thereof 
will  be,  to  place  the  United  States  in  Oregon  on  the  same  footing  that 
England  has  been  for  some  twenty  years ;  beyond  those  measures  of  self- 
protection,  no  aggressive  staps  will  be  taken  by  the  United  States  ;  it 
will  be  left  to  England,  if  she  wants  to  prevent  the  accretive  power  of  the 
American  settlers,  to  declare  war ;  and  that  is  the  very  thing  she  will 
not  do,  unless  she  finds  that  the  councils  of  the  United  States  are  dis- 
tracted. All  the  extensive  means  under  the  control  of  British  inter- 
ests will  be  set  in  motion  to  create  division  ;  but  the  masses  are  intelli- 


w 


32 

gent  in  the  United  Stales  ;  they  know  how  to  appreciate  properly  the 
honest  motives  of  men  who  hold  the  helm  of  State  ;  and  if,  as  it  is  to  be  ex- 
pected, Mr.  Polk  does  his  duty,  popular  support  will  give  him  a  prepon- 
derancy  to  put  down  party  spirit,  and  to  sustain  the  national  character  and 
the  dignity  of  the  country.  The  President  is  the  direct  representative 
of  the  whole  people  lakcn  individually-  This  peculiar  feature  of  the 
American  Constitution  accounts  for  a  fact  that  many  people  wonder  at 
without  perceiving  the  cause  thereof;  the  fact  alluded  to  is  this — the 

irONEST  OPINION  .\ND  THE  MERE  RECOMMENDATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT 
ON  ALL  QUESTIONS  OF  A  NATIONAL  CUAKACTEB,  IS  MORE  POWERFUL  IN 
AMERICA    THAN     WOULD    BE    IN     EUROPE    THE    ROYAL    WILL   OF    THE   MOST 

ABSOLUTE  SOVEREIGN,  './)».'  cvcTi  Cotigress  must  abide  by  it.  i;>>J<. 


u 


Kemarr. — The  underneath  article  was  intended,  like  the  preceding 
numbers,  to  appear  in  the  Daily  Globe,  and  accordingly  the  manuscript 
thereof  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  person  who  took  charge  of  the  others  ; 
on  finding  that  five  or  six  days  had  elapsed  witl^out  its  being  inserted,  I 
withdrew  it  on  the  14th  of  January,  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  the 
whole  in  pamphlet  form.  ;  .',  ,\i 

■■  "■'■*   '         •  '     No.  Vm.  v.  ^r---^..^_.-i. 


New  York,  January  7th,  1846. 

Will  there  be  War  between  the  Uuited  States  and  Great 

Britain? 

The  translation  from  the  French  of"  Threats  of  the  British  Aristocracy 
on  the  subject  of  Oregon,"  which  was  the  theme  of  the  last  number,  sets 
in  juxta  position  the  ideiUical  words  of  the  declaration  made  by  both  Mr- 
Polk  and  the  British  Ministry  on  the  Oregon  question,  and  the  following 
inference  therein  drawn  must  be  granted  as  correct  by  any  person  who' 
will  compare  the  two  declarations,  namely :  "  In  contrasting  thus  the 
identical  terms  of  the  two  declarations,  there  is  no  difficulty  to  perceive 
on  which  side  is  the  blustering. 

The  principal  aim  of  the  British  Government,  in  the  blustering  alluded 
to,  was  to  insulate  the  Prt  ident,  and  to  weaken  thereby  the  American 
Administration,  so  as  to  prevent  the  accomplishing  act  of  Texas  annexa- 
tion. The  following  article  of  the  Ministerial  paper,  the  Lmidon  Stan- 
dard, betrays  thus,  in  an  unguarded  moment,*  the  secret  motive  of  the 
British  Ministers :  "  London,  May  2d.  The  feverish  anxiety  which  has 
prevailed  for  these  two  or  three  weeks  had  not  decreased,  as  the  late 
news  by  the  packet  Waterloo  (from  New  York,  April  11)  gives  out,  that 


•  The  Standard  of  the  28th  of  March  (the  day  that  Mr.  Polk's  Inaugural  was  pub- 
lished in  London)  has  the  following  comment  on  the  passage  of  the  resolutions  for  the 
annexation  of  Texas :  "  All  this  is  interesting,  and  that  is  all ;  for  truly,  it  does  not 
concern  us  any  more  than  the  acts  and  the  gestures  fro.ii  the  Celestial  empire."  Let 
the  reader  contrast  this  dissembled  resignation  with  the  anxiety  betrayed  by  the  same 
paper,  in  the  article  above  transcribed  of  the  2nd  of  May,  and  it  will  give  him  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  sincerity,  and  of  the  consistency,  of  the  organs  of  British  Aristocracy. 


S3 


iiotliiiig  i8  to  be  expected  from  the  Justice  of  the  adniiDistratiuii  ut  Wush- 
ington,and,  it  is  believed,  that  nothing  but  the  attitude  taken  by  England 
and  France  on  the  subject  of  Texas  can  prevent  the  American  Govern- 
ment from  accomplishing  annexation.  We  look  out,  therefore,  with  im- 
patience to  know  what  effect  the  demonstration  made  by  both  Houses  of 
Parliament  (on  the  4th  of  April)  may  have  produced  in  the  United 
States."  It  Becomes  evident  from  the  above  avowal  that  much,  to  pre- 
vent the  last  act  of  annexation,  was  expected  from  the  warlike  demon- 
stration of  Parliament,  &c.  Well,  the  Caledonia  arrived  on  the  14th  of 
May,  bringing  out  the  expected  news  ;  it  turned  out  that  the  threats 
from  England  had  not  the  anticipated  effect,  and  the  agent  of  the  Times 
in  this  country  (a  Genevesa  Traveller)*  and  that  of  ihe.Morning  Chronicle 
(Publicus)  agreed  in  advising  the  British  Government  to  give  up,  for  the 
present,  the  bullying  system — that  it  would  not  do,  that  Mr.  Polk  would 
be  sustained,  &c. ;  the  consequence  was,  that  the  organs  of  the  aristoc- 
racy, although  awfully  disappointed,  declared  sullenly,  that  they  were 
well  satisfied  with  the  news. 

The  purport  of  the  above  disquisition  is  to  enable  the  reader  to  form,  at 
once,  a  correct  view  of  the  reasoning  I  am  going  to  set  forth  as  to  the 
probable  effect  of  the  President's  Message  in  England,  and  I  proceed, 
now,  to  quote  those  parts  thereof  that  bear  upon  the  Oregon  question. 

The  President  sftites  as  follows:  "Though  entertaining  the  settled 
conviction,  that  the  British  pretensions  of  title  could  not  be  maintained  to 
any  portion  of  the  Oregon  territory,  upon  any  principle  of  public  law  re- 
cognised by  nations,  yet,  in  deference  to  what  had  been  done  by  my  pre- 
decessors, and  especially  in  consideration  that  propositions  of  compro- 
mise had  been  thrice  made  by  two  preceding  administrations,  to  adjust 
the  question  on  the  parallel  of  forty-nine  degrees,  and  in  two  of  them 
yielding  to  Great  Britain  the  free  navigation  of  the  Columbia,  and  that 
the  pending  negotiation  had  been  commenced  on  the  basis  of  compromise,. 
I  deemed  it  to  be  my  duty  not  absolutely  to  break  it  off.  In  considera- 
tion, too,  that  under  the  conventions  of  IblS  and  1827,  the  citizens  and 
subjects  of  the  two  powers  held  a  joint  occupancy  of  the  country,  and 
was  induced  to  make  another  effort  to  settle  their  long  pending  contro- 
versy in  the  spirit  of  moderation  which  had  given  birth  to  the  renewed 
discussion.     A  proposition  was  accordingly  made,  which  was  rejected . 

*  The  letters  in  the  Times,  subscribed  "  A  Gnncvese  Traveller,"  are  endited  by  a 
person  in  this  city  named  D****,  as  it  appears  from  the  following  anecdote  recited  by 
Lord  Ashburton  in  jocose  conversation ;  here  is  the  substance  of  the  great  banker's 
bon-mot:  "  A  few  days  after  my  arrival  in  New  York  I  wrote  a  note  to  Mr.  D.,  stating 
that  I  should  be  happy  to  see  him  at  my  apartments  at  the  Astor  House ;  he  accord- 
ingly called  on  me,  and  when  we  were  closeted  together  I  toid  him — '  well  Mr.  D.  we 
value  your  letters  very  highly  in  England,  as  the  information  they  convey  to  us  is  very 
useful,  and  if  I  can  render  you  any  service,  I  will  be  very  happy  to  do  it ;  your  style 
is  remarkably  clear  and /orcii/c,  and  there  was  a  passage  in  one  of  your  letters  which 
struck  us  as  being  peculiarly  significative.  You  said  •  If  the  proper  man  be  sent  ovei), 
there  is  no  difficulty  to  arrange  the  Northeastern  Boundary.  You  had,  no  doubt, 
something  important  and  particularly  in  view  for  using  the  qualifying  adjective  of 
proper  1 '  Mr.  D.  answered  me  he  had  not ;  he  meant,  that  a  personage  like  me,  by 
ir  ance,  he  considered  a  proper  man."  His  lordship  was  of  course  too  discreet  to 
mention  whether  any  services  were  rendered.  Thic  anecdote  shows  that  Lord  Ash- 
burton liked,  occasionally,  to  crack  a  joke.  In  note  4,  of  article  No.  3, 1  have  taken  the 
same  view  of  the  subject  as  had  been  expressed  by  "  a  Genevese  Travelltr"— the 
GREAT  BANKER  was,  indeed,  the  propet  than. 

5 


.l-f 


l)y  till;  Hritlsl\  pliMiipnlenliiiry,  wlio,  without  sul)mitting  any  oilier  pr<i[i(r' 
sitioii,  sulferod  the  ni'goliation  on  his  piirt  to  (hop,  expreswinji;  his  trust 
that  the  United  States  wouhl  ofl'cf  what  he  saw  tit  to  enll  '  some  farther 
proposal  for  tlie  settienniit  of  the  Oregon  question,  more  conshlcnt  trilh 
/aiV/i«,M  and  equity^  and  with  the  reasonabli!  expectation  of  the  Uritish 
Government,'  Tiie  proposition  thus  ollercd  and  rejected,  repented  the 
offer  of  the  parallel  of  forty-nine  degrees  of  north  latitude,  which  had 
been  made  by  two  preceding  administiations,  but  without  proposing  to 
surrender  to  Great  Britain,  as  they  had  done,  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Columbia  river."  Further,  the  President  states:  "  Hod  this  been  a  new 
question,  coming  under  discussion  for  the  first  i\mp.^  this  proposition  would 
not  have  been  made.  The  extraordinary  and  wholly  inadmissible  demands 
of  the  liritish  Government,  and  iho.  rejection  of  the  proposition  made  in 
ilefercnce  alone  to  what  had  been  done  by  my  predecessors,  and  the  im- 
plied obligations  which  their  acts  seemed  to  itnpose,  afford  satisfactory 
evidence  that  no  compromise  that  the  United  States  oncjlil  to  accept  can 
he  effected.  With  this  conviction,  th(!  proposition  which  had  been  made 
and  rejected,  was,  by  my  direction,  subsequently  withdrawn,  and 
our  title  to  the  uholv  Oregon  Territory  asserted, and,  as  is  believed,  main- 
tained by  irrefragable  facts  and  art^uments." 

The  passages  in  italics  in  the  above  paragraph  set  forth  that  Mr.  Polk 
has  no  expectation  that  any  "  compromise  that  the  United  States  ought 
to  accept  can  be  effected;"  and,  then,  that  "our title  to  the  whole  Oregon 
Territory  is  asserted, and,  as  is  believed,  maintained  by  irrefragable  facts," 
&c.  The  above  official  declaration,  it  cannot  be  denied,  is  much  stron- 
ger than  that  of  the  Inaugural,  which  expressed  merely  an  opinion.  I 
refer  on  this  point  to  the  assertion  1  made  in  No.  6  of  this  series,*  and  I 
make  bold  to  assert,  besides,  (in  case  the  emergency  I  have  alluded  to  in 
Mo.  Q  does  not  happen,)  that  we  will  not  hear  this  time  that  the  mail 
Kteamer  has  been  delayed  for  the  purpose  of  threatening  us,  as  in  April 
last,  with  the  whi'i'  budget  of  a  general  denunciation. 

The  followiu!^  i;assages  of  the  Message  lay  down  principles  on  inter- 
national law,  which  will  be  galling  to  the  British  Aristocracy,  to  wit, — 
"  The  United  Sutes,  sincerely  desirous  of  preserving  relations  of  good 
understanding  with  all  nations,  cannot  in  silence  permit  any  European 
interference  on  the  Morth  American  continent;  and  should  any  be  at- 
tempted, will  be  ready  to  resist  it  at  all  hazards."     And— 

"  Existing  rights  of  every  European  nation  should  be  respected  ;  but 
it  is  due  alike  to  our  safety  and  our  interests,  that  the  efRcient  protection 
of  our  laws  should  be  extended  over  our  whole  territorial  limits,  and 
that  it  should  be  distinctly  announced  to  the  world  as  our  settled  policy, 
that  no  future  European  colony  or  dominion,  shall,  with  our  consent,  be 
planted  or  established  on  any  part  of  the  North  American  continent," 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  no  Message  issued  from  the  Presiden- 
tial chair  has  ever  asserted  rights  and  doctrines  so  ofiensive  to  the  views  of 
the  statesmen  of  England,  as  the  one  I  am  reviewing ;  and  yet,  I  assert  in 
advance,  that  no  ministerial  ebuiiition  will  take  place.  This  assertion  will 
seem  at  first  as  being  an  anomaly;  but  those  persons  who  have  read  my  pre- 
ceding numbers  will  appreciate  the  correctness  of  the  following  reasoning, 
why  such  an  offensive  message  will,  nevertheless,  have  a  peaceful  tendency 
in  England.     The  popular  enthusiasm  that  the  Message  has  produced  in 

*  See  the  third  paragraph  thereof. 


3- 


Ilia  trust 
•n'  furtlicr 
ulcnt  with 
"0  Hritish 
riifrd   tho 
■  liicli  hud 
losing  to 
on  of  the 
"1  u  new 
ioii  would 
I'Mnands 
iiiulo  in 
thf!  iin- 
ifacfory 
'Cfpt  can 
'en  made 
"1,   and 
J,  muin- 


Iho  United  Slftli!.s  will  lio  linown  or  forosron  in  EhgliUKl  nt  nliout  tlift 
time  it  will  ho  rceoivcd  thuie,  and  the  Hritish  niinistors,  on  ascortaining 
that  tho  groat  nuiMs  of  tlie  Aim!ri<:an  jjcoj)!*;  are  ready  to  sustain  tho  Pre- 
aident,  will  givo  up  bullying  ;  they  never  meant  to  go  to  war  for  Oregon, 
and  their  secret  resolve  on  the  subject  will  become  thus  apparent  to  tho 
whole  world ;  they  know  that  they  can  hold  their  own  in  Oregon  for 
many  years  to  come,  and  they  will  trust  tho  result  to  procrastination, 
bribery,  and  the  intrigues  of  all  kinds  which  they  understand  so  well 
how  to  manage. 

1  remarked  in  No.  6  of  this  series  that  the  INIessage  had  silenced  the 
opponents  of  the  President /or  a  while  ;  but  they  have  been  covertly  at 
work;  their  movements  begin  to  be  jjercepliblc — many  of  the  letter 
writers  and  several  of  the  presses,  which  were  foremost  for  the  whole  of 
Oregon,  have  fallen  back  rather  abruptly  on  4!)  degrees,  and  will  fall 
lower  still  whenever  it  suits  the  secret  inlluence  which  is  acting  upon 
them  ;  the  Whig  presses  in  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  th«  British  organs  ia 
general,  has  lately  teem.d  with  articles  and  rumors  whose  burthen  is  to 
prepare  the  public  mim.  for  concession  ;  delay,  is  now  the  watch-word 
among  the  initiated,  and,  yesterday,  the  Editor  of  the  Courier  and  Inquirer^ 
who  is  generally  so  very  ferocious  against  his  opponents  in  politics,  comes 
down  on  his  knees  to  implore  "  men  of  all  parties  to  use  their  influence, 
at  least  to  delay  the  adoption  by  either  house  of  Congress  of  any  propo- 
sit'on  now  before  it — either  for  giving  the  twelve  months  notice  to  Great 
Britain,  or  for  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  our  laws  over  our  citizens  in 
Oregon,  or  for  increasing  our  military  force  with  a  "View  to  occupying 
posts  on  the  route,  to  and  within,  that  territory."  The  Courier  who 
swaggered  so  much  lately  about  military  preparations,  is  now  even  op- 
posed to  increase  "  our  military  force  with  a  view  to  occupying  posts 
on  the  route  to  Oregon"  for  fear  it  might  give  offence  to  Great  Britain.  At 
Washington,  various  insidious  means  and  measures  are  contrived,  also,  to 
delay,  and  prevent,  if  possible,  the  action  of  Congress  on  the  express 
recommendations  of  the  President ;  and  a  debate  has  lately  taken  place 
in  the  Senate,  whereof  a  brief  synopsis  will  throw  some  light  on  the 
tactics  of  those  who,  directly  or  indirectly,  act  under  the  inlluence  of 
British  interests. 

On  the  30th  of  December,  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Hannegan  came  up; 
they  were  read,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Archer,  seconded  by  tho  mover, 
the  consideration  thereof  was  postponed ;  but  Mr.  Calhoun,  it  seems, 
thought  that  this  was  a  fit  opportunity  '^'  to  define  his  position  :  "  after  a 
short  preamble,  he  introduced  a  set  of  resolutions,  and  .:''ade  a  speech 
which  does  not  bespeak  much  for  his  frankness,  for  he  appeared  to  bo 
very  studious  to  defend  the  course  of  the  President  on  the  Oregon  ques- 
tion against  the  implied  censure  of  Mr.  Hannegan  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  declares  he  is  opposed  to  giving  the  year's  notice  to  Ei  e'and, 
which  the  President  expressedly  recommends  in  the  following  explicit 
language : 

"  All  attempts  at  compromise  having  failed,  it  becomes  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  consider  what  measures  it  may  be  proper  to  adopt  for  the 
security  and  protection  of  our  citizens  now  inhabiting,  or  who  may  here- 
after inhabit  Oregon,  .and  for  the  maintenance  of  our  just  title  to  that  ter- 
ritory. In  adopting  measures  for  this  purpose,  care  should  be  taken  that 
nothing  be  done  to  violate  the  stipulations  of  the  convention  of  ISUl, 


36 


which  is  still  iu  force.  Under  that  convention,  a  year's  notice  is  required 
to  be  given  by  either  party  to  the  other,  before  the  joint  occupancy  shall 
terminate,  and  before  either  can  rightfully  aasert  or  exercise  exclusive 
jurisdiction  over  any  portion  of  the  territory.  This  notice,  it  would  in  my 
judgment^  be  proper  to  give ;  and  I  recommend  that  provision  be  made  by 
Jaw /or  giving  it  accordingly,  and  terminating  in  this  manner  the  conven- 
iion  of  the  6th  of  August,  1827." 

The  above  recommendation  is  earnest,  and  without  ambiguity ;  it  proves 
that  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  under  cover  of  defending  the  course 
of  the  President,  takes  strong  ground  in  opposing  his  most  important 
measures.  The  sectional  feeling  of  Mr.  Calhoun  has  so  far  biassed  his 
judgment  as  to  blind  him  in  adopting  a  course  which  cannot  have  any 
beneficial,  or  even  a  practical,  result  to  settle  the  Oregon  question.  If 
Mr.  Calhoun  had  positive  assurance  that  the  British  Government  would 
take  up  the  terms  of  the  compromise  proposed  by  Mr,  Polk  last  summer, 
there  might  be  some  excuse  for  his  course  ;  but  I  venture  to  assert,  and 
time  will  prove  it,  that  Mr.  Calhoun  has  no  guaranty  whatsoei'er  to  that 
effect :  Great  Britain  will  not  take  up  the  aforesaid  pro'position,  jvnd  any- 
thing less,  Mr.  Calhoun  ought  to  know,  wil'.  not  be  ratified  by  two-thirds 
of  the  Senators. 

No  hesitation  whatever  ought  to  be  felt  for  giving  Great  Britain  ihe 
one  year's  notice ;  let  that  notice  pass  by  nearly  an  unanimous  vote,  and 
what  I  have  already  stated  will  become  apparent  to  all,  namely:  that  the 
British  ministers  "  never  meant  to  go  to  war  for  Oregon  " — that  is,  so 
long  an  their  stake  and  risk,  in  a  protracted  maritime  war,  will  be  as  great 
and  eminent  as  they  are  now. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suf  jose  that  procrastination  would  be  advan- 
tageous to  the  United  States  ;  the  very  reverse  would  be  the  case.  Pro- 
crastination, at  the  time  when  the  necessity  for  proper  action  has  been  so 
clearly  and  forcibly  indicated  by  the  President,  would  be  an  undeniable 
proof  that  apprehension  of  the  displeasure  of  England  would  be  the  real 
cause  thereof ;  it  would  prove  conclusively  that  Congress  dare  not  pass 
resolutions  akin  to  those  Avhich  last  year  went  through  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives by  a  great  majority  ;  and  the  admiration  and  respect,  which 
the  high  and  becoming  tone  assumed  by  the  President  in  his  message 
has,  no  doubt,  produced  in  Europe,  would  be  superceded  by  contempt 
and  ridicule.  The  immediate  effect  of  delaying  the  one  year's  notice 
would  be,  therefore,  to  induce  the  British  Government  to  asEume  a  hos- 
tile attitude,  which  would  prolong  indefinitely  a  state  of  uncertainty  as  to 
the  final  result — nearly  as  bad  as  war  itself.  Moreover,  when  it  would  be 
understood  in  the  western  states  that  Congre.fi  bach  out,  the  tide  of  emi- 
gration would  cease  to  set  towards  Oregc  n. 

The  House  of  Representatives,  not'vithstanding  all  the  intrigues  that 
are  at  work,  will,  no  doubt,  pass  tho  Oregon  resolutions.  Mr.  Calhoun 
in  his  speecti  said,  that  he  would  hold  responsible  those  who  might,  (ac- 
cording to  his  view,)  be  the  cause  of  war.  I  will  tell  him,  that  the  Ame- 
rican people  vill  hold  him  responsible,  should  the  one  year's  notice  be  re- 
jected in  the  Senate,  through  his  influence. 

The  next  number  will  contain  an  argumentative  sunirr.-...  7  of  the  infer- 
ences and  conclusions  to  be  drawn  and  deduced  from  this  long  series  of 
articles  on  the  question,  "  Will  there  be  War .'  " 


'I 


37 


res 


■       ■  No.  IX. 

New  York,  Janilary  14,  184G. 

Will  there  be  War  between  the  United  States  and  Great 

Britain  1 

By  comparing  carefully  the  various  circumstances,  which,  more  or  less, 
Ji'-ay  have  had  an  influence  on  past  events  ;  by  observing  with  discrimi- 
nation the  various  phasis  of  political,  commercial,  and  financial  move- 
ments ;  and^finally,  by  recording  faithfully  the  opinions  formed  conform- 
ably to  the  above  rules,  so  as  to  test  the  soundness  of  one's  judgment, 
a  caim  and  impartial  observer  may  be  enabled,  thereby,  to  indicate 
correctly,  beforehand,  the  solution  of  the  pending  events  which  engross 
public  attention. 

The  query,  "Will  there  be  War?"  is  now  the  topic  of  all  conversations. 
The  general  answer  is,  there  will  be  no  war  ;  but  there  are  very  few  per- 
sons that  can  give  satisfactory  reasons  to  others,  or  even  to  themselves, 
for  their  opinions  on  the  subject.  Some  will  tell  you  there  will  be  no  war, 
because  of  the  kindred  ties  of  the  two  nations  speaking  the  same  lan- 
guage ;  others,  because  England  wants  our  bread-stuffs  ;  some,  because 
she  cannot  do  wi'.hout  our  cotton  ;  others,  because  Christianity,  and  the 
high  state  of  civilization  of  the  two  countries,  forbid  it  ;  many,  in  the 
Atlantic  cities,  assert  loudly  that  the  United  States  mus'  and  will  back 
out,  as  they  verily  believe  that  England  is  clearly  right.  Those  reasons 
fail  invariably  to  carry  conviction,  even  into  the  minds  of  those  who  set 
them  forth  :  the  apprehension  of  war  still  remains,  and  the  same  persons 
day  after  day  propound  over  again  the  same  query,  hoping,  no  doubt, 
that  some  one  will  be  able  to  give  them  better  reasons  than  they  can  find 
out  themselves.  Let  such  persons  read  vith  attention,  "  The  Analysis 
of  the  Elements  which  constitute  the  power  of  England,"  (see  pages  11 
to  14 ;)  it  has  been  penned  conformably  to  the  precepts  laid  down  in  the 
first  paragraph  of  this  article ;  it  is,  in  fact,  the  result  of  a  close  ob- 
servation on  the  political,  financial,  and  commercial  events  of  the  last 
forty  years.  Let  those  persons  ponder  well  on  the  irresistible  tendency  of 
the  historical  facts  grouped  and  recorded  in  that  analysis,  and  on  the 
logical  inferences  which  obviously  must  be  Jrawn  therefrom,  and  they 
will  feel  convinced  that  the  British  Aristocracy  cannot,  without  incurring 
the  most  eminent  peril,  run  ihe  risk  of  a  protracted  war  with  this  country; 
and  those  persons  will  then  be  able  to  explain  satisfactorily  to  their 
friends  the  real  potent  cause  that  prevents  England,  notwithstanding  her 
immense  means  of  aggression,  from  going  to  war. 

On  the  strength  of  the  views  clearly  deducible  from  the  analysis  above 
alluded  to,  I  published  in  Paris,  in  1845,  a  series*  of  articles,  wherein 
I  indicated  in  clear  and  explicit  language,  the  course  of  events  as  to  the 

*  Those  articles  appeared  chiefly  in  a  daily  paper  called  La  Heforme,  and  the 
spirit  of  some  of  them  found  their  way  in  the  Sitde,  the  JSTational,  the  Commerce, 
&c.,  whose  editoi's  had  my  manuscripts  on  hand  for  a  length  of  time  ;  they  were  re- 
published  in  the  form  of  a  brochure  in  the  month  of  March.  Subsequently  other 
artirles  were  published,  which  were  also  republished  in  a  brochure,  in  the  month  of 
May. 


itfs' 


3S 

international  diflicultics  then  ponding,  and  all  the  conclusions  therein 
drawn,  as  to  the  final  consummation  of  those  events,  have  been  verified 
with  an  unerring  precision.  1  asserted,  in  positive  terms,  in  those  arti- 
cles, that  "  England  would  not  go  to  war  to  prevent  the  annexation  of 
Texas ;"  and,  moreover,  that  said  annexation  would  take  place  "  re- 
gardless of  her  threats  and  of  her  intrigues."  The  same  facts,  and 
the  same  reasoning,  that  led  me  to  set  forth  the  above  assertions,  act  in 
full  force  as  to  the  stand  taken  by  great  Britain  on  the  subject  of  Oregon. 
She  will  recede,  in  proportion  as  we  will  assert  with  unanimity  our  un- 
questionable rights.  As  to  the  remarkable  correctness  of  all  the  co.icli- 
sions  above  adverted  to,  I  refer  to  a  couple  of  pamphlets  pjil,",'''be  '. 
Paris  in  March  and  May  lasc.*  , 

Well,  now  that  I  have  in  this  and  the  preceding  numbers  coimeiu  il  c  le. 
chain  of  uncontrovertible  facts  first  established,  with  such  official  declara- 
tions, axiomatic  principles,  and  ungarbled  quotations  as  have  an  impor- 
tant bearing  to  illustrate  ny  views  on  the  question,  "  Will  there  he: 
War  .'"  I  will  proceed  to  give  a  summary  of  the  \jrincipal  inferences 
and  conclusions  which  are  evidently  corollary  therefrom — they  are  the 
following : 

1st.  That  the  British  Aristocracy  will  take  good  care  not  to  engage  in 
a  war  with  the  United  States  on  the  subject  of  Oregon,  unless  they  have 
positive  assurances  that  it  would  lead,  at  once,  to  a  disruption  of  the 
confederacy. 

2nd.  That  the  giving  the  year's  notice,  and  the  passing  by  Congress  of 
such  measures,  to  protect  our  citizens  in  Oregon,  as  do  not  infringe  on 
treaty  stipulations,  will  have  the  effect,  if  it  be  done  promptly,  to  remove 
all  apprehensions  of  war,  as  it  will  then  become  apparent  to  all,  that  En- 
gland will  keep  quiet  on  the  subject  of  Oregon. 

3rd.  That  hesitation  and  backwardness,  in  either  branch  of  Congress, 
to  share  with  the  President  the  responsibility  of  the  acts  he  has  recom- 
mended on  the  subject  of  Oregon,  would  have  the  t'lidency  oi"  inducing 
the  British  G^'vernment  to  hold  back,  and  appreheu  ons  of  war  would 
increase,  or  diminish,  in  proportion  as  our  councils  might  appear  to  be 
more  or  less  divided. 

4th.  That  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  sustain  the  President 
in  the  stand  he  has  taken  in  his  Message,  regardless  of  the  intrii  ::*  vhich 
may  succeed,  temporarily^  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  Ore^j  .solu- 
tions in  the  Senate. 

5th.  That  the  President,  sustained  by  the  popular  support  of  the 
masses,  will  ultimately  succeed  to  carry  his  measures  through  in  Con 

cress,    UNLESS   he    lack    decision UNLESS    HE    FALTER   IN    HLS   DUTY. 


The  Proper  Course  to  Secure,  peaceably,  tli«!>  Whole  of  the 

Oregon  Territory. 

The  following  measu.es  will  ensure  to  up  in  rouifc'j  oi  time.  *he  whole 
of  Oregon :  ,,         •  , 

1st,  The  one  year's  notice  should  be  given  promptly  and  unani- 
mously. 

*  A  few  copies  which  remain  or  hand,  will  be  left  for  sale  at  William  Taylor's,  No.  2 
Astor  House. 


39  , 

i^af&ours  B!;ot\ersTet  -^^^^^^^^  "^1    e.ch  at  the  tune 

ind  the  United  States  steal         ^  ^ely  «"f  ,r*^' ^'r  of  accretion 

Let  the  above   -^'^J^^^.y  of  Congress,  '^"i.^^^/^to  fit  en  years, 
specitia^,  by  a  grea    r  go^  J^  ^^fo,,  ^.e  expuation  ot  ten      ^^^_^^^^^^ ^^, 
^'ill  give  ns  '(»e  f  f^^^^  t^'oist  measures,  ^^  J  ^^eujca   y^^  ^^^^^^^        _ 
Th»  propriety  ot  ^^^^J  ding  pages  •,    ^^^^^^^^f  ^f  our  manmity. 

been  d^-ff^jt  .  ve  a  cSnvincinI  and  -^"f  «"J„d,  i„  tine  of  peace, 
sure  would  be  to  give  «i  „^ejauaonary  expenou      '        j       ^^at  we 

*^^fee  year,  notice,  ^-^^^  -^^  ^^r^^f 

j^^^^^{lh  n;s;^-^^r  hs^ri:^- 

:^hen  the  national  "f  \%i^  ^^nW  be  abandoned,  w^hout  ^^^^^  „ 
fi,„,ly  r ^f '".t  wr  and  inliest,  is  too  c  ear  to  adm^^  ^^^^  ^.^.^^,,^ 
of  both  nationa.  honor  »'  j^e  offered bj-  J^l'-  roi  .^^ 

Considering  that  the  co^^P;^,-,,^  plenipoteiit.ary,  ^^  ^^^^^jt^d  j  but 
rather  contemptuously  by  t^  «  ^^^^^  the  aUerna  we  as  a W    ^^  ^ 
per  that  the  ^^'I'^'^^l^^^^        M..  Polk  o  offex  t^e  1      ^^      ^^ 
[he  same  reasons  winch  P       P^  ^^^^  ^  ^^  ^^'i -^f  the  other  conjoint 
will  exist  in  their  t uu  i  ^^^^^  ,^ould  doji  ^^^  ^^^  ti^^ 

ought  to  act  accordingly,  an«  ^  ^  „ajoiit>.  J^J^J^^  ^^^Uce,  and 
measures  were  to  be  f^^'XJ,  duly  considered  as  legarj  ^^^  ^^_ 
Tvorld  that  our  s^nd  h  <1  bec^^^^^  ^^     f-^"  '^l^S  were  offered 

that  we  are  sliU  "^yj^^J^^^abJe  claim,  the  sf^^  **;""', ted  with  the  othe" 
,.„.t;n<r  sooner  our  indtsputaoi    ^^^^,,^„:„n  being  connecieu 


'^' 


"that  our  stand  ^-^^^^:J:':..ioric^i,^ovou.ne^^^^^^ 
,e  are  sti"  «V^^^  ll Xm,  the  same  terms  wh'c.  we 
serting  soone-ur  t«d.«F''fJ-,,,,^    ionb^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

-  ,e  President  n;.o^^^^,„ded,  wouW,on  he  o     ^^^^^^^^  ^„  ^eli- 


;:;ingsoone-urW.«F''-- 

^^^^^:::iffoUcj^^^ 

;:3ytrl:m\t^^^^,^,  ,  ^-,  th.u^t;|  ^ 

The'British  subjects  ""^  f;]V         ^'^■^^^\''  '5^  ought  to  be  allowed 

,,,eless   ff --J^]  jSuon  nU  of  f^lJ^^f/SX    ^^^^  ^  «"^ 
pected,  a"dr"Sl-^;ih  residents  would  think  it  expe  g  above 

L  long   as  ^«.l^"*\te  consideration  the  «i^'=»«3,,,Uourwill,  fio'doubt, 
who  will  take  >»to  due  consi  increasing  emigraUon,,  ^^^ 

-^r^tStCp,butSsorbillg^ 

:£f  t1  fu^^^^^^^  expressed,  under  the  ap- 

Some  people  wiu  "  j 


40 

pichension  that  border  disputes  would  take  place,  and  that  war  would  be 
the  consequence.  This  might  be  very  true  if  the  13ritish  Aristocracy  were 
disposed  to  run  the  risk  thereof.  I  have,  I  trust,  conclusively  established 
in  the  preceding  pages  that  the  great  stake  they  would  have  in  jeopardy, 
Ly  going  to  war  against  an  united  people,  would  prevent  it  ;  there  is  no 
danger  whatsoever  that  the  decisive,  but,  at  the  same  time,  conciliatory y 
me;  •  ui-es  above  recommended  would  be  the  cause  of  hostilities.  Border 
dis^  (  'i»  Oregon  would  have  less  eflect  to  provoke  war,  than  the  bor- 
der an  vhich,  occasionally,  used  to  take  place  on  the  Northeastern 
boundaij 

The  ofter  made  by  the  President  last  summer,  for  settling  the  Oregon 
dispute,  was  eminently  judicious;  it  has  conceded  much  for  the  sake  of 
compromise,  at  the  same  time  that  it  has  reserved  what  constitutes  the 
principal  importance  of  Oregon  in  a  commercial  point  of  u/eu?,  namely  :  the  . 
outlets  in  the  Pacific,  and  the  exclusive  controul  of  the  Columbia  river* 
No  compromise  can  take  place  as  to  the  right  of  the  exclusive  navigation 
of  said  river ;  but  I  do  not  see  any  inconvenience  to  allow  merchant  ves- 
sels to  navigate  it,  in  pursuance  of  free  trade  principles. 

A  proposition  has  been  lately  started  in  many  quarters,  that  we  should 
jive  up  to  the  British  the  right  of  navigation  on  the  Columbia  river,  pro- 
vided they  should  grant  us  an  equivalent — the  right  of  navigation  on  the 
St.  Lawrence.  The  right  of  navigating  a  river,  whereof  both  sides  are 
•occupied  and  fortified  by  a  foreign  nation,  is  liable  to  numberless  disputes 
and  difficulties  ;  we  have  an  instance,  at  the  present  time,  as  to  our  right 
to  navigate  the  St.  John,  which  is  stipulated  by  treaty,  but  it  is  well 
known  that  the  British  authorities  render  that  right  nugatory. 

On  the  whole,  I  am  fully  satisfied  that  the  adoption  by  Congress  of  the 
four  measures,  as  set  forth  at  the  head  of  this  article,  conjointly,  in  all 
its  parts  and  spirit,  would  secure  to  us,  peaceably,  the  whole  of 
Oregon. 


New  York,  January  3lst,  1846. 
Remark. — On  Wednesday,  the  15th  instant,  the  matter  to  make  up  this 
pamphlet  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  printer,  with  the  expectation  that 
it  would  be  published  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  ;  but,  owing  to  some 
unavoidable  circumstances,  the  printing  thereof  has  been  delayed  to  this 
day.  I  avail  myself  of  that  delay  to  write  and  insert  an  additional  arti- 
cle, on  the  subject  of  the  late  news  brought  by  the  steamer  Hibernia, 
from  Liverpool.  , . 

Resignation  of  the  Peel  Ministn'^  and  their  Return  into 

Power. 

Twelve  or  thirteen  days  ago  the  packet  ship  Liberty  brought  over  the 
news  of  the  resignation  of  the  British  Ministry,  and  the  appointment  of 
Lord  John  Russell  to  form  a  Whig  administration  ;  on  the  24th  instant, 
within  a  week's  time,  the  Steamer  Hibernia  furnished  us  with  the  infor- 

•Ihe  line  of  forty-nine  degrees  would  give  us  Pujet's  Sound,  the  Straits  of  Fuca, 
part  of  Vancouver's  Island,  and  an  important  port  at  the  entrance  of  the  Straits. 


41 


le  . 
J* 


tnation  that  Lord  John  Rossell  has  failed  to  form  an  adininistratlon,  and 
that  Sir  Robert  Peel,  with  his  colleagues,  have  resumed  their  offices. 
The  whole  of  this  mairceuvring  strikes  me  as  being  a  mere  juggle,  which 
has  been  enacted  for  the  purpose  of  turning  away  the  public  attention 
from  the  new  policy  which  the  British  Aristocracy  means  to  pursue ;  and 
the  reader  will  do  well,  preparatory  to  reading  what  follows,  to  look  over 
a  note  appended  to  pages  13  and  14  of  this  pamphlet,  wherein  the  de- 
vices of  the  British  Aristocracy  are  strikingly  illustrated.  I  transcribe 
therefrom  the  following  remark :  "  The  pretended  division  of  the  British 
Aristocracy  in  two  parties,  denominated  the  Whig  and  the  Tory  party,  is 
a  mere  gull-trap  to  deceive  the  people  into  the  belief  that  there  are  tfome 
patriots  among  them.  It  has  the  advantage,  besides,  whenevei  they  find 
that  a  change  of  measures  become  necessary,  lO  enable  them  to  do  so  with 
good  grace,  by  letting  the  whigs  or  the  tories,  as  the  case  may  be,  to 
take  the  administration  of  affairs  in  opposition  to  their  mock  opponents." 
The  sentences  in  italics  give  the  explanation  of  the  late  manoexivres — a 
change  of  measures  has  become  necessarj'.  The  British  ministry,  through 
vexation  and  sullen  anger  at  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  resolutions 
annexing  Texas,  took  a  stand  on  the  subject  of  Oregon  which,  I  have 
recorded  in  pages  30  to  31  of  this  pamphlet ;  this  stand  has  beeft  met 
by  the  President  in  his  late  IMessage.  The  breaking  up  of  the  negotia- 
tions last  summer,  and  particularly  the  tone  of  the  last  note  from  Mr. 
Buchanan  to  the  British  plenipotentiary,  wherein  the  American  Secretary 
of  State  claims,  officially,  the  whole  of  Oregon,  must  have  convinced  the 
British  ministry  that  the  President  would  toe  the  mark  in  his  forth- 
coming Message.  Some  means  must  be  contrived  to  recede,  with  good 
grace,  from  the  threatening  attitude  assumed  last  April ;  hence  the  ma- 
noeuvring about  the  resi  nation,  the  attempt  to  form  a  new  administration, 
and,  finally,  the  return  of  the  old  one.  While  tne  public  mind  was  thus 
agitated  by  those  viighty  changes,  the  leading  organs  of  the  Aristocracy 
assumed  a  more  friendly  tone  towards  A.nerica ;  in  the  meantime,  the 
President's  Message  arrives  in  England,  and,  although  it  asserts,  officially^ 
claims  that  had  been  so  violently  denounced  when  the  President,  in  his 
Inaugural,  set  forth  those  claims  as  being,  in  his  opinion,  "  unquestion- 
able," we  find  that  the  Message  has  had  a  peaceful  tendency. 

No.  6  of  this  pamphlet  was  published  in  the  Daily  Globe  of  the  30th 
of  December  last,  and  tho  reader,  by  perusing  it,  will  find  (see  page  27) 
that  I  distinctly  indicated  the  above  result  as  to  the  peaceful  effect  of  the 
Message,  my  assertions  thereon  being  predicated  on  the  very  reasons 
which,  no  doubt,  have  brought  it  about. 

The  burden  of  the  news  brought  by  the  Hibernia,  concerning  the  va- 
rious phasis  of  the  ministerial  movements,  may  be  condensed  in  a  few- 
lines.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  meeting  with  opposition  from  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington on  the  subject  of  the  corn  laws,  which  he  is  represented  as  bein^ 
bent  upon  repealing  altogether,  resigns  with  all  his  colleagues.  Lora 
Russell  is  sent  for — accepts  the  charge  of  forming  a  new  administration, 
but  fails  to  do  it  on  account,  it  is  said,  that  Earl  Grey  objects  to  Lord 
Palmerston.  Whereupon,  Sir  Robert  Peel  with  his  colleagues  resume 
at  once  their  offices,  without  further  ceremony.  While  this  manoeuvring 
was  performed,  which  took  up  about  a  fortnight,  the  automaton  Qucec 
was  all  the  time  graciously  pleased — graciously  pleased,  to  accept  Sir 
Robert  Peel's  resignation — graciously  pleased,  to  take  op  Lord  Russell 


49 


jiad  her  former  whig  friends — and,  lastly,  graciously  pleated,  to  greet 
again  Sir  Robert  Peel  as  her  prime  minister. 

Let  us  look,  although  slightly,  en  passant^  under  the  surface  of  things, 
as  they  are  above  represented,  and  enquire,  somewhat,  into  their  cor- 
rectness. 

If  the  opposition  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  to  the  repeal  of  the  corn 
laws  had  been  the  true  cause  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  ministry,  how  is 
it  that  Sir  Robert  Peel  consented  to  resume  his  office  with  the  Duke  of 
JVellington  as  his  colleague  7  If  the  intention  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  had 
been  to  form  a  new  administration,  having  within  itself  the  proper  ele- 
ments of  strength,  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  would  have  recom- 
mended Lord  Russell  for  that  purpose  ?  It  is  notorious,  that  the  said  Lord 
is  pledged  to  introduce  measures  that  have  no  chance  whatever  to  obtain 
a  majority  in  Parliament — a  Russell  administration  is,  at  the  present 
time,  unpracticabie.  And  as  to  the  reason  set  forth,  that  Lord  Russell 
failed  to  form  an  administration  because  Earl  Grey  objected  to  Lord  Pal- 
merstoD,  it  must,  on  reflection,  strike  the  reader  as  being  rather  shallow. 

The  above  remarks,  although  made  hastily,  point  out  significantly  some 
of  the  inconsistencies  of  the  statements  of  the  British  press,  to  hood- 
wink, Bot  only  the  English  people,  but  the  world  at  large.  It  is  not 
uecess.-wy  for  my  ictual  purpose  to  go  deeper  into  the  subject ;  I  wish 
merely  to  record  my  deliberate  opinion  thereon,  namely — that  the  whole 
transact''  n;  as  T  stated  at  the  outset,  has  been  a  mere  juggle,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  believe,  besides,  that  there  has  been  a  secret  understanding, 
throughout  the  whole  imbroglio,  between  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Lord 
Russell. 

The  effect  produced  by  the  late  news,  on  the  tone  of  a  majority  of  the 
newspapers  in  the  Atlantic  cities,  deserves  a  passing  remark.  Before  the 
arrival  of  the  news,  most  of  the  editors  thereof  affected  to  express  their 
belief  that  war  was  not  possible,  &c. ;  but  that  opinion  was  evidently 
predicated  on  the  hope  they  entertained  that  Congress  would  not  support 
the  measures  recommended  by  the  President ;  apprehensions  of  war  were 
still  rankling  into  the  minds  of  most  of  them,  as  it  may  have  been  easily 
remarked  by  their  harping  day  after  day  on  the  same  subject,  and,  more- 
over, by  the  joy  they  have  manifested  at  the  pacific  complexion  of  the 
news,  which,  it  appears  obvious,  has  taken  them  by  surprise ;  and  they 
seem  to  think,  because  England  has  not  issued  forth  those  warlike 
declarations  they  so  much  apprehended,  that  all  the  difficulties  will  be 
settled  at  once.  This  is  falling  from  one  mistake  into  another  :  1  foresaw 
distinctly  the  pacific  reception  of  the  Message,  w^hich,  by  not  expecting 
it,  has  surprised  them  so  agreeably  ;  but  I  am  far  from  thinking  that  the 
difficulties  will  be  arranged  so  very  quickly,  especially  if  the  advice  of 
those  editors  was  to  be  followed.  The  British  ministry  have  been  pre- 
paring for  a  change  of  measures ;  but  the  new  policy  they  are  adopting 
may  be  more  dangerous  than  that  of  intimidation,  which  they  have  had 
to  give  up. — We  must  not  forget  the  Ashburton  treaty — coaxing,  delay, 
bribery,  intrigues,  have  often  had  more  effect  than  cannon.  The  character 
of  the  press  iu  the  Atlantic  cities  is  not  calculated  to  keep  us  on  the  alert 
as  to  the  danger  of  this  nm)  policy.  The  majority  of  the  editors  thereof  mav 
be  divided  into  four  classes :  1st — Those  vho  are  positively  under  Britisn 
influence.  2nd — Those  who  care  nothing  for  honour  or  country  when 
a^  loif  of  a  dollar  is  at  stake.    3rd — Those  who  are  connected  with 


let 


|r- 


British  commercial  and  financial  interests.  4th — Those  who  are  ao  mdch 
dazzled  by  the  imtnense  aggressive  power  of  Great  Britain,  as  not  to 
perceive  her  weak  points.  To  the  two  first  classes  I  have  nothing  to  say — 
all  arguments  are  useless  ;  but  to  those  of  the  third  and  fourth  class,  and 
to  that  part  of  the  community  which  may  be  under  the  influence  of  the 
same  views,  I  will  submit  a  few  remarks  for  their  consideration.  It  has 
been  generally  asserted  that  England  does  not  recede,  and  that  it  waa 
wrong  for  Mr.  Polk  to  join  issue  with  her  on  the  subject  of  Oregon,  as 
war  must  be  the  inevitable  consequence.  This  observation  was  made  by 
the  editors  of  the  third  and  fourth,  as  well  as  by  those  of  the  first  and  se- 
cond classes,  in  reference  to  the  warlike  demonstration  made  by  both  shades 
of  the  British  Aristocracy,  in  April  last,  versus  the  opinion  expressed  by 
Mr.  Polk,  in  his  Inaugural,  namely — that  our  title  to  the  Oregon  terri- 
tory was  "  clear  and  unquestionable."  What  has  been  the  result  so  far? 
The  President,  in  his  Message,  claims  officiallif  the  whole  of  Oregon, 
and  yet  we  have  news  from  England  that  the  Message  has  had  a  peace- 
Jul  tendency  !  and,  it  is  generally  said  and  believed,  that  some  overtures 
to  renew  the  negotiations  have  been  made  by  the  British  ministry.  I  do 
not  suppose  that  they  will  recede  altogether  from  their  pretensions  ;  but, 
it  must  be  admitted,  that  they  have  receded  considerably  in  their  tone. 
The  abrupt  change  that  has  taken  place,  from  hostile  to  pacific  language 
towards  this  country,  by  the  leading  organ,  the  Times^  is  certainly  re- 
markable. Well,  in  .submitting  the  above  remarks  to  the  consideration 
of  the  third  and  fourth  class  of  editors  as  aforesaid,  1  will  thank  them  to 
answer  candidly  the  following  queries  : — Do  they  believe  that  the  organs 
of  the  British  Aristocracy  would  have  subdued  so  suddenly  their  language, 
after  the  receipt  of  the  Message,  if  Mr.  Polk  had  receded  from  the 
stand  taken  by  the  Inaugural .''  Do  they  believe,  had  this  been  the  case, 
that  better  terms  in  favour  of  the  United  States  would  have  been  advo- 
cated by  the  Times,  in  three  successive  articles,  which  bear  the  stamp 
of  being,  at  least,  semi-official?  I  expect  that  the  g';iierd  answer 
will  be  a  frank  NO;  at  least,  it  will  be  so  from  those  whose  pa- 
triotism rises  higher  than  private  interest.  And  to  all  those  who  have 
80  answered,  I  will  remark,  that  we  must,  of  course,  continue  the 
same  policy  that  has  produced  that  change  in  British  feeling ;  and,  in 
order  to  do  it  effectually.  Congress,  without  any  further  loss  of  tim?, 
ought  to  adopt  the  four  measttres  set  forth  in  the  preceding  article,  headed, 
"  The  proper  course  to  secure,  peaceably,  the  whole  of  Oheoow," 


h«t>' 


New  York,  February  4th,  1840. 

The   Senate   of   tlie   United    States. 

The  two  houses  of  Congress  have  been  in  session  about  ten  weeks ; 
what  have  they  done  ?  Numberless  speeches  have  bem  made,  but  no 
legislation  of  any  consequence  has  been  accomplished.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  the  people  have  made  up  their  minds,  long  ago,  on  the  propriety 
of  the  measures  recommended  by  the  President,  and  on  the  urgency  of 
carrying  them  into  immediate  efiect ;  and  yet,  those  measures  continue  to 
be  the  subject  of  an  endless  debate,  eliciting  the  most  discordant  aai} 
fonflictiog  opinions. 


44 


'^  About  the  middle  of  December,  General  Cass,  in  a  ipeeoh  ftiU  of 
patriotism,  urged  on  the  Senate  the  propriety  of  an  inquiry  as  to*  our 
means  of  defence,  &c.;  but,  in  reviewing  the  whole  ground  of  oar  anta- 
gonist position  with  England,  he  overshot  the  mark,  by  stating  that  war 
IS  nearly  inevitable— 'that  England  never  recedes,  and  alarmed  the  timid, 
who*  thereupon  made  a  great  rally.  On  the  30th  of  December,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn *'  defhies  his  position"— ^opposes  the  measures  recommended  by 
the  President,  under  cover  of  taking  his  part  against  pretei\{led  implica- 
tions of  Mr.  Hannegan  on  the  course  of  the  President ;  and,  decidedly,  Mr. 
Calhoun  gave  ths  cold  shoulder  to  our  claim  on  the  Oregon  territory.  A 
few  weeks  afterwards,  Mr.  Benton  opposes  the  bill  increasing  the  steam 
navy  : — first,  if  it  was  meant  for  a  peace  measure,  because  the  appropria- 
tion was  too  large  ;  second,  if  it  was  meant  for  a  war  measure,  because 
it  was  too  small.  This  is^  truly,  strange  rea.soning.  It  must  strike  any 
one,  that  a  moderate  appropriation  for  precaiitionarij  armaments,  might 
secure  peace^  which  is  the  object  in  view  by  the  advocates  of  the  bilL 
And  if,  on  the  other  hand,  wa?  was-  to  come  notwithstanding,  it 
cannot  be  amiss  to  have  ten  steamers'  ready  for  action,  for  the  simple 
reason,  that  if  thirty  or  forty  steamers  become  necessary,  in  case  of  war,, 
it. will,  certainly,  be  sooner  accomplished' by  having  already  fen  fitted  out, 
than  if  we  had  none  at  all. 

At  a  time*  when  decision  and  unanimity  in  our  councils  become  an  ob*> 
ject  of  the  highest  importance,  it  is  really  painful  to  see  our  leading 
Senators  wasting  their  time  and  talents  on  such  erratic  courses.  I  hope, 
still,  that  the  good  sense  and  patriotism  of  a  great  majoFity  of  both  parties 
in  the  Senate  will  see  the  necessity  of  great  unanimity  when  the  final 
vote  will  be  taken  on  the  Oregon  measures  ;  but,  in  case  those  measures 
were  to  be  defeated,  I  make  bold  to  state,  beforehand,  some  of  the  con- 
sequences thtot  would  ensue  ;  they  would  be  the  following : — 

1st.— ^That  this  division  in  our  councils  would  embolden  the  BKtish 
Govemmentto assume  again  a  hostile  attitude, which  would  be  first  fell 
by  their  excit'ng  Mexico  against  us — by  their  increasing  their  naval 
forces  on  the  stations  bordering  on  our  coasts — and  apprehensions  of  war 
would  be  the  immediate  result. 

2nd. — That  the  proper  time  to  settle  the  Oregon  question,  according 
to  the  decisive,  but  conciliatory  measures  recommended  in  the  preceding 
article,  being  thereby  lost,  .the  consequence  would  be,  that  it  would  re- 
maiiji  open  until  the  next  elections,  when  it  would  be  found  that  the  popu- 
lar vote  would  go  for  54-40,  which  would  render  the  settlement  of  the 
question  more  difficult. 

3rd. — That  the  Senators,  whose  influence  would  have  thus  defeated 
the  Oregon  measures,  would  forfeit,  by  so  doing,  the  confidence  of  the 
nation. 

In  conclusion,  and  m  the  warning  voice  of  one  who  is  entirely  discon- 
nected with  party  spirit — who  looks  only  to  the  interest,  the  safety,  and 
the  good  fame  of  the  Republic — I  cannot  give  up  the  pen  without  em- 
phatically recommending  unanimity  in  voting  in  favour  of  the  Oregon 
measures,  as  the  most  mighty  weapon  that  can  be  wielded  by  Congress. 
i.i«t  tliis  POTENT  WEAPON  be  properly  applied,  and  there  will  be  NO  WAR ! 


l( 


ip* 


AN  ADOPTED  CITIZEN. 


